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Coping and support
By Mayo Clinic staffLiving with borderline personality disorder can be difficult. You may realize your behaviors and thoughts are self-destructive or damaging yet feel unable to control them. Treatment can help you learn skills to manage and cope with your condition.
Other things you can do to help manage your condition and feel better about yourself include:
- Sticking to your treatment plan
- Attending all therapy sessions
- Practicing healthy ways to ease painful emotions, rather than inflicting self-injury
- Not blaming yourself for having the disorder but recognizing your responsibility to get it treated
- Learning what things may trigger angry outbursts or impulsive behavior
- Not being embarrassed by the condition
- Getting treatment for related problems, such as substance abuse
- Educating yourself about the disorder so that you understand its causes and treatments
- Reaching out to others with the disorder to share insights and experiences
Remember, there's no one right path to recovery from borderline personality disorder. The condition seems to be worse in young adulthood and may gradually get better with age. Many people with the disorder find greater stability in their lives during their 30s and 40s. As your inner misery decreases, you can go on to sustain loving relationships and enjoy meaningful careers.
- Borderline personality disorder. National Institute of Mental Health. http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/borderline-personality-disorder-fact-sheet/index.shtml. Accessed March 4, 2010.
- Cluster B personality disorders. In: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV-TR. 4th ed. Arlington, Va.: American Psychiatric Association; 2000. http://www.psychiatryonline.com. Accessed March 4, 2010.
- Skodol AE, et al. Personality disorders. In: Hales RE, et al., eds. The American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Psychiatry. 5th ed. Arlington, Va.: American Psychiatric Association; 2008. http://www.psychiatryonline.com. Accessed March 4, 2010.
- Kernberg OF, et al. Borderline personality disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry. 2009;166:5.
- Oldham JM. Guideline Watch: Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Patients With Borderline Personality Disorder. Arlington, Va.: American Psychiatric Association, 2005. Accessed March 4, 2010.
- Silk KR. Personality disorders. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 4, 2010.
- Hall-Flavin D (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. March 4, 2010.
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