Single White Female: Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)

Aka BPD, is a mental disorder marked by ongoing intense mood swings, self-imaging problems, and impulsive behavior usually surfacing during adolescence to early adulthood and can lead to major psychological disorders later in life.

Individuals who suffer of such disorder are capable of changing their behavior and mindset drastically. For example, if the person is in a relationship they can love and idolize their partner at one instant and completely hate and seek revenge against them, if they feel their partner hurts them. At times, they even try to self-sabotage themselves by attempting to hurt themselves. Their personality characteristics are known to be demanding, intense, aggressive, and even feeling empty an abundant amount of times. Essentially an individual with borderline personality disorder are defined by the word “instability” as their behavior is completely unpredictable and rocky to their experiences (Buss & Larsen, 2001).

Distortions in thinking and sense of self are a part of this disorder. Suzanna exhibits this throughout the movie. While Susanna is talking with her therapist in the hospital, she tells him that she has no bones in her hands, and when he asked her how she opened the bottle of aspirin her response was that they just reappeared. People with BPD often have suicide attempts and substance abuse in their history, along with self-mutilation. They may feel unfairly misunderstood or mistreated, bored, empty, and have little idea who they are. Such symptoms are most acute when people with BPD feel isolated and lacking in social support, and may result in frantic efforts to avoid being alone by acting out. People with BPD exhibit other impulsive behaviors, such as excessive spending, binge eating and risky sex. She exhibits spontaneous damaging behaviors that are mainly sexual. She has an affair with her English professor who was married. And also has sex with two different guys in one day.

Although there are nine criteria that are used in determining whether or not a particular individual is afflicted with Borderline Personality Disorder, such a person need only adhere to five of these conventions in order for such a diagnosis to apply. One of the principle facets of Hedy's personality is that she suffers from a feeling of loneliness which she attributes to the death of her twin sister early on in her life. This

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a serious and complex mental disorder involving maladaptive behaviors and multiple symptoms. This disorder often occurs in the context of relationships and can have a chaotic effect not only on the individual with BPD but also on their loved ones. According to the NIMH, “borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a serious mental illness characterized by unstable moods, behavior, and relationship”.9 A primary character of BPD is behavioral and emotional dysregulation. These behaviors are difficult

Psychological disorders are very real and present in many people we come in contact with daily, however, are very rarely talked about. Learning about these disorders can help us to understand others and ourselves better by telling us why we do and think the things we do. One effective way that we can observe and learn about psychological disorders is through movies. “Mommie Dearest” was directed by Frank Perry. It is centered around the actress Joan Crawford, who suffered from various psychological disorders. Joan’s daughter, Christina, wrote a book about her mother and her many problems and it was later turned into a movie. It is very effective to use movie analysis as a way of learning, especially in psychology, because it provides a great way to observe without distractions. When you’re looking at disorders, it’s difficult to find a person who has many of these disorders and will allow you to observe them. Psychological disorders can be split into two major groups, personality disorders and mood disorders. Personality disorders are patterns of traits that can get in the way of your social or work life and may interrupt the individual’s normal lifestyle. Mood disorders are inconsistent and unreliable changes in mood by the affected individual. (Rathus, 1998). With all of this being said, it brings me to my point that I will be talking about for the rest of this essay. Joan Crawford demonstrates the personality disorders of histrionic, narcissism, and OCPD. When it comes to mood disorders, Joan demonstrates bipolar disorder.

There is growing consensus that the core features of BPD lie in affect dysregulation, impulsivity, unstable relationships, and self-harm (Bateman, Ryle, Fonagy, & Kerr, 2007; Choi-Kain & Gunderson, 2008; Eizirik & Fonagy, 2009; Fonagy & Luyten, 2009). These features are not isolated characteristics and could be understood and integrated under the mentalizing theory framework (Fonagy & Target, 2000). For example, affect dysregulation and impulsivity could be explained by the low threshold for the activation of the attachment system and the deactivation of mentalizing (Fonagy & Luyten, 2009). When operating in the pre-reflective psychic equivalence mode, BPD patients have difficulty differentiating mental states of self and others.

In order to receive this diagnosis a person must display 5 of the 9 possible symptoms (American Psychological Association, 2013). The symptoms of BPD are as follows; efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment, patterns of unstable relationships that are intense, identity disturbance, impulsivity in a minimum of two areas that can be damaging, recurring suicidal behaviour or self-mutilating behaviour, mood instability, feelings of emptiness that are chronic, difficulty controlling anger and severe dissociative symptoms (American Psychological Association, 2013) . Disco Di displayed many of these symptoms such as having trouble separating from her parents, substance abuse, sexual promiscuity, being unsure about what she wants to do with her life, uncontrollable episodes of anger and has attempted suicide multiple times. It is not surprising that she was also given a diagnosis of BPD as the comorbidity rate for these patients to also have an Axis I or Axis II Disorder has proven to be high. For example, in the study “Axis I and II comorbidity and psychosocial functioning in female adolescents with borderline personality disorder”, by Kaess, Ceumern-Lindenstjerna, Parzer, Chanen, Mundt, Resch, and Brunner, female adolescent patients with BPD and other psychiatric diagnoses were assessed by clinicians to screen for Axis I and II disorders (Kaess, Ceumern-Lindenstjerna, Parzer, Chanen, Mundt, Resch &

Likewise, the author read that Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is described as instability in interpersonal relationship, self-image and mood, a fast fluctuation between emotional states, impulsive behaviour and an inclination towards self-harm and suicidal thinking (NICE 2009).

The history of BPD can be traced back to 1938 when Adolph Stern first described the symptoms of the disorder as neither being psychotic nor psychoneurotic; hence, the term ‘borderline’ was introduced (National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health, 2009, p. 15). Then in 1960, Otto Kernberg coined the term ‘borderline personality organization’ to describe persistent patterns of behavior and functioning consisting of instability, and distressed psychological self-organization (National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health, 2009, p. 15).

With BPD there are often extremes in beliefs and views, such as all good or all bad. People with BPD are can be uncertain about whom they truly are as a person. With no self sense, interests and values may conflict as well as change rapidly. Their views of others may also change quickly. One day a certain person may be admired. The next day that same person may be despised or hated. Suddenly shifting feelings often foster relationships that are unstable and intense. There are numerous other identifiable traits someone with BPD may display. Some of these symptoms may include fear abandonment, feelings of emptiness and boredom, frequent displays of inappropriate anger, destructive impulsiveness, intolerance of being alone, as well as repeated self crises (i.e. self injury).

The main feature of borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a pervasive pattern of instability in interpersonal relationships, self-image and emotions. People with borderline personality disorder are also usually very impulsive.

“Personality disorders have been documented in approximately 9 percent of the general U.S. population” (Angstman, Rasmussen, 2011). Emotional dysregulation disorder or its common name borderline personality disorder is a very serious and chronic disorder. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) describes borderline personality disorder as “a pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity that begins by early adulthood and is present in a variety of contexts” (Gardner, 2006). Within the last 20 years, psychologists and other mental health professionals have made tremendous strides in research on what exactly borderline personality disorder, some of its triggers and possible effective treatment options. Borderline personality disorder is defined as a disorder that generates severe emotional instability which can be a springboard that can lead to other stress induced mental and behavioral problems.

Differential Diagnosis/ Other Disorders (THE DISORDER COULD ALSO BE….) Borderline personality disorder. This disorder shows symptoms of unstable relationships, emotions, and a sense of self. There is also a strong feeling of abandonment and dangerous feelings (violence) with BPD. This disorder is also genetic and environmental too just like ASPD.

The movie I have chosen to do my psychological film disorder assignment on is Girl Interrupted which is a psychological drama directed by James Mangold. The movie takes place in a mental institution for troubled women. All of the characters in this movie suffer from one or more mental illnesses such as depression, borderline personality disorder and schizophrenia. The movie gives us an inside look on how poorly these women are being treated and how they are treated as if they are abnormal because they are in this institution. Similarly the women are faced with their own personal and outer issues within the institution. The director gives us an inside look on how the patients are being treated poorly are