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Diseases of the Mind
This is a quote from “Decartes’ Error” by Antonio Damasio: The distinction between diseases of the “brain” and the “mind”, between “neurological” problems and “psychological” or “psychiatric” ones, is an unfortunate cultural inheritance that permeates society and medicine. It reflects a basic ignorance of the relation between brain and mind. Diseases of the brain are seen as tradgedies visited on people who cannot be blamed for their conditions, while diseases of the mind, especially those that affect conduct and emotion, are seen as social inconveniences for which sufferers have much to answer. Individuals are to be blamed for their character flaws, defective emotional modulation, ans so on; lack of willpower…
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DSM-IV Criteria
Although this site is not an introduction to Borderline Personality Disorder, and I am not a doctor or therapist, I thought it might be helpful to look at the DSM-IV diagnosis criteria. If you have 5 of these 9, you are considered a borderline: A pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following: 1. frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment. Note: Do not include suicidal or self-mutilating behavior covered in Criterion 5. 2. a pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by…
