Borderline Personality Disorder

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is something that has come into my sphere of consciousness recently.   It wasn't something I had really heard about before, though, I vaguely remember someone talking about one of my cousins as having been diagnosed with BPD as a teen.  However, that has changed with the introduction of some new people over the last year or so.  There have been circumstances that have prompted me to do some research on the disorder.

Then I read an article that talked about a Miami Dolphin with borderline personality disorder and how he wants to become the "face" of this disorder.  According to the article he was recently diagnosed and believes this disorder has been the cause for his turbulent life.  It also described the difficulties in recognizing and diagnosing BPD as the mood swings and intense fears of abandonment are typical human emotions.  Though, the BPD version of these emotions is much more intense and sometimes debilitating than what a non-BPD person would experience.  The big thing about BPD, as I understand it, is that the person does not have the coping mechanisms necessary to deal with these emotions.

Please check out this article on Health.com for more detailed information on BPD as it will have more reliable information than I ever could.  What I did find interesting is that the article on CNN, about the Miami Dolphin, explains that it can be difficult to treat BPD.  The article says that people with BPD don't respond to medication, though they can be prescribed to alleviate the symptoms, and that it's the "talk therapy that stresses how to cope with the feelings of abandonment and other symptoms of the disorder"

I think it's very admirable for Brandon Marshall, the Miami Dolphins guy from the article, to announce this in a press conference.  I know it can't be easy to open up to people about any disorder and there is a stigma in society about therapy and mental illness in general.  It's something that a lot of us can't understand because we have not experienced it nor have we known someone who has had to work through these issues.  So for someone that has this intense fear of abandonment, and is working through it, to come out and tell the world that they have this problem is incredibly brave.  I think it is also helpful for people with this disorder to know that they aren't alone in their struggles.  It also puts faces to a disorder and makes it more personal for those that don't know someone with BPD.  But it important to remember that we are none of us perfect people.