Is Bpd Classed As A Mental Illness?

[aussiebabe]

The reason i am asking this is that at the end of my group this week there was a heated debate as to whether it was or not. The group leader said that it wasn't. Then everyone was asking why are we on all these medications. Someone said that it was classed as a mental illness in America and that there was something being debated here about it.

What does everyone else think?

Thanks

Sharonxx

[seafree]

I don't think it's a mental illness. More a behaviour disturbance, emotional instability...mental illness...i have my doubts. I don't know though, i guess it depends whether you think its caused by nature or nurture. Is it a chemical imbalance? Or is it all made up from external circumstances. I often ponder this.

Just my opinion though- so no offence to anyone.

Much love,

Jess x

[AndyL]

BPD is not just a mental illness, it's a severe mental illness, as classified by the DSM-IV. Google it.

[foreverborderline]

I agree with Andy, Bpd is a severe mental illness, any doctor will tell you that .

[foreverborderline]

I don't think it's a mental illness. More a behaviour disturbance, emotional instability...mental illness...i have my doubts. I don't know though, i guess it depends whether you think its caused by nature or nurture. Is it a chemical imbalance? Or is it all made up from external circumstances. I often ponder this.

Just my opinion though- so no offence to anyone.

Much love,

Jess x

First of all , I respect your opinion Jess and second , In my so very humble opinion I think ( and many others do as well ) that it is a severe mental illness, Have a PET scan on your brain and if you are BPD it will show up as abnormal and there is chemical imbalance part, then life circumstances and our environments make it worse..

[Life is sweet]

Do docs outside of the U.S. use the DSM? I can't remember, I was going to ask someone about it. I mean, like, in Mexico or India. China even! Do they have the DSM? Well, I mean, except that if they did it would have to be in Chinese or Spansih.....

[foreverborderline]

The DSM is now used all around the world , or they at least refer to it.

[voodoopinup]

definately mental illness...in regards to if other countries use the DSM IV...well the DSM IV gives the criteria used to diagnose BPD and all personality disorders so if the DSM defined the diagnosing criteria and ppl all over the world are being diagnosed with the illnesses in the DSM then they have to use the DSM right?

[CharcoalKiss]

The DSM is used throughout psychology in the western world. The Europe also has the ICD 10 which classifies all diseases and illnesses regardless of whether they are physical or psychological. Although it is the DSM that is used for diagnosis criteria.

Personally i view BPD more as a mental DISORDER than illness. I have studied psychology for several years and there is never really an answer to the nature-nurture debate. Noone has yet been able to determine if the physical symptoms of mental illnesses and disorders are caused BY or the cause OF the illness. There is support for the idea of a Diathesis-Stress or Vulnerability-Trigger model which states that some people are born with a predisposition for mental illness such as depression (which has high heredity values) and PDs, but that this predisposition will not be triggered unless an extreme stress occurs which then results in the illness/disorder - so it would be both nature and nuture responsible for the resulting mental illness/disorder.

[dolphin]

i too agree with andy as i have found out through my therapist

he wrote to the dla ( disability living allowence ) and said that it was a sever mental disorder which in turn i then recived extra benifits from dla and income support as well as getting a free bus pass so i can travel on all busses in this area for free!!!!

[tripper]

although it is not largely regarded as a mental illness in Australia, my psychiatrist and care team classify it as a psychiatric disability, along with my other illnesses for the purposes of obtaining benefits and treatment.

[seafree]

Charcoal, im with you on this one, thats what i was trying to say xx

[fucktheworld]

Personality Disorder - here to stay - management is the goal [general opinion of the psychiatric community]

[lots of debate on this view, like AJ Mahari, who believes it can be cured, she is cured. I enjoy her writings but if you read very closely, very closely, the bite in her tongue is still there and I haven't figured out yet if it is the bpd bite or a bite of a narcissist. At times she is gut level honest and other times she cannot hide her tongue in cheek, 'know it all haughtiness', in her words. Read Linehan and compare her to Mahari and you will see what I mean.]

comorbid [coexisting with PDs, often result of PDs] mental illnesses - treated with cocktails of meds - illness; implies it is treatable with an inference it can be cured

anxiety, depression, delusions, sleeping disturbances, addictions................

its all good

:lol:

[yorkiegal73]

i too agree with andy as i have found out through my therapist

he wrote to the dla ( disability living allowence ) and said that it was a sever mental disorder which in turn i then recived extra benifits from dla and income support as well as getting a free bus pass so i can travel on all busses in this area for free!!!!

The dla still believe i have reactive depression. I'm scared to update them because both my gp and my consultant say I show no signs of mental illness and am bpd. Why they feel the need to put me on drugs or hospitalise me is beyond me then. That free pass is fab but i get funny looks sometimes when i use it. Perhaps I should develop a limp?

[Fairy]

When I was diagnosed with BPD, I asked my psychiatrist whether it was classified as mental illness, he said yes, alsthough not all personality disorders are. My understanding is that all personality disorders bar anti-social personality are mental illness. BPD being a severe personality disorder. Interestingly, when I have been sectioned it has been for bi-polar depression. They can only section you for treatment, and I was told their is no treatment for personality disorder, so you cannot be sectioned for it. This is a load of rubbish, you can be treated, however, on their poxy forms they are not allowed to write it!

Fairy xxx

[wordsmithy]

whats the difference between mental disorder and mental illness.

is disorder a lesser form of illness?

are people suffering from a mental disorder more able to recover than a person seffering from a mental illness?

[Shellybelly]

i was told im suffering from a severe mental disorder when my pdoc said i had bpd thats how she described it

i dont know i have no views on if it is or isnt i just know i need meds for it and it annoying and drives me crazy so :P

[Fairy]

My understanding of the difference between mental illness and mental disorder is this;- mental illness can be treated as it is a illness, where as mental disorder is untreatable thus classified as a disorder. Doctors refer to axis 1 and axis 2 mental problems. All mental health problems fall into axis 1, except personality disorder which is axis 2, along with mental retardation!

I hope this makes sense, I have read about it a few times when scouring the web for information about personality disorder.

Fairy xxx

[wordsmithy]

i'm retarded.

[wednesday]

It has been shown in twin studies that bpd has a genetic component thus, it could be regarded as axis 1 (though at the moment it is not classed as this) Neurological studies have also shown differences in the brain. The concensus at the moment seems to be of an illness where there is a genetic predisposition , to one extent or another, and then environmental factors which can either mitigate or exaserbate the condition. The problem seems to be that there is no one drug that has been shown to help bpd.

Thw world health organisation WHO class it as a severe mental illness.

[Fairy]

We are not retarded, just in the same catorgory. Bloody cheek isn't it?

[CharcoalKiss]

I concur. We are not retarded. Although funnily enough, the mental health act classifies 'mental disorders' as any disorder of the mind. Which also covers learning disabilities.....

[CharcoalKiss]

Charcoal, im with you on this one, thats what i was trying to say xx

...Great minds Jess.... Great Minds ;)

[icu_baby]

Hi Charcol - missed you on here!

I personally believe that it is a mental illness and should be seen as a spectrum of Bipolar II. The biological v environmental debate is complex. Why is it that depression which is caused by external factors in your life is regarded as a mental illness and BPD is not. There is lots of evidence to suggest that environmental factors over a long period of time can infact change your brain chemistry and as borderline forever pointed out brain imaging shows a smaller hippocampus among people with BPD. Also, according to Dr Markovitz says that some people with BPD respond to medication whereas others do not but this is true of all mental illnesses. Although DBT is seen as an effective treatment for BPD, the treatment is also being expanded to help people with bipolar disorder which is classified as a biological illness. Don't forget in the past depression and schizophrenia used to be classified as weak personalities. I think that in 10 years time BPD will move into an axis 1 disorder as more is researched about the condition.

[fucktheworld]

Some of the coolest stuff I've read lately is on the biological formation of the frontal lobes. The approach focuses on the interruption in the formation aspect of these two lobes. I found it particularly interesting because their findings suggest the interruption in the growth, development, and formation of these two lobes for a bpd sufferer is in the time frame 0-6 months, and the interruption for npd is the time frame 18-36 months. It is interesting to me because I have a sibling that sure resembles the DSM-IV [iCD-10] of a npd and we had ptsd stuff going on in the family when I was 0-6 months and she was 18-36 months. I like all the discussion in this thread but the thing that continually differentiates disorder from illness is the component, that I have always been this way, always. The part that changes, the part that complicates or adds to what feels like my basic nature is the tangents I have gone down trying to cope with it. For example, the anxiety it causes, the depression it causes, the lack of impulse control to get relief and the results of finding relief from it in things that have hurt me over and over.

One difference I can find between a narcissist's basic nature [and it is huge] and a bpd's basic nature is the npd has no true capacity for empathy. The narcissist only has empathy when they can connect someone's suffering to themselves, and then in a weird way turn another's experience into their own. Why they are not as easily recognizable could be due to the interruption in the development of these frontal lobes, ie., the 'manager' is later and they had longer to develop before the traumatic interruption. Sorry for the rant here, obviously a stimulating topic for me, hope I didn't bore anyone.

Here is the link to the biological study, beware it is clinical and kind of boring.

http://www.allaboutpsychotherapy.com/featu...sp?FeatureID=55