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In Brief
- Borderline personality disorder (BPD) accounts for up to 10 percent of patients under psychiatric care and 20 percent of those who have to be hospitalized. People who have BPD suffer from unstable personal relationships, along with an inability to control their impulses and regulate their emotions.
- Parts of the brain’s limbic system, which governs emotion, are abnormally small as well as hyperactive in patients with BPD. According to one interpretation of these findings, a loss of inhibitory neurons in BPD might underlie both impulsivity and overly negative reactions to events.
- New research suggests that individuals with BPD also have problems correctly perceiving social gestures and that a brain structure called the anterior insula plays a key role in the disorder.
Glenn Close’s unforgettably vivid portrayal in the movie Fatal Attraction gave viewers a front-row look at the damaging mental illness known as borderline personality disorder (BPD). By itself, this ailment accounts for up to 10 percent of patients under psychiatric care and 20 percent of those who have to be hospitalized. The defining characteristic is pervasive instability in the patient’s life, especially in relationships. People who suffer from BPD also have difficulty controlling their impulses and regulating their emotions. Their behavior exerts a tremendous toll not only on themselves but also on their friends and colleagues, as well as on the health care system.
Despite the importance of this disorder, surprisingly little is known about what brain mechanisms might underlie it. Over the past few years, however, scientists have found intriguing hints. Structural imaging studies have indicated, for example, that parts of the brain’s limbic system, which regulates various aspects of emotion, are abnormally small in patients with BPD, and the areas that appear most reduced in volume govern negative moods. Investigations of functional abnormalities show that these same limbic areas—including the amygdala—tend to be hyperactive. Some researchers theorize that the smaller size of limbic structures reflects a loss of inhibitory neurons, which might mean these patients’ brains have a weaker rein on behavior and negative emotions, leading to impulsivity and overly negative reactions to events.
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4 Comments
Add CommentSSRIs do not work. Unfortunately persons with Personality Disorders are given these medications by well meaning medical practitioners, who are then surprised that they are not effective.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhen you see or hear the term "borderline", do not think inmediately in personality disorders. The word applied equally to patients that shared traits of both neurosis and psychosis and to the not so deeply mentally retarded, both circunstamces deserving social support, while BPD elicits other kind of response
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"Glenn Closes unforgettably vivid portrayal in the movie Fatal Attraction gave viewers a front-row look at the damaging mental illness known as borderline personality disorder (BPD)."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAre you kidding me? This is beyond the pale. Thanks for more stigma, guys.
you can find very interesting and very practically useful information on how to detect and how to deal with psychopaths and narcissist in the workplace at www.theoma.com
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