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Borderline Personality Disorder among ENFPs?

[ENFP] 
35K views 18 replies 17 participants last post by  KaleidoscopeWars 
#1 ·
Ok I just recently found this
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/borderline-personality-disorder-fact-sheet/index.shtml
Borderline Personality Disorder
A brief overview that focuses on the symptoms, treatments, and research findings.


Raising questions, finding answers
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a serious mental illness characterized by pervasive instability in moods, interpersonal relationships, self-image, and behavior. This instability often disrupts family and work life, long-term planning, and the individual's sense of self-identity. Originally thought to be at the "borderline" of psychosis, people with BPD suffer from a disorder of emotion regulation. While less well known than schizophrenia or bipolar disorder (manic-depressive illness), BPD is more common, affecting 2 percent of adults, mostly young women.1 There is a high rate of self-injury without suicide intent, as well as a significant rate of suicide attempts and completed suicide in severe cases.2,3 Patients often need extensive mental health services, and account for 20 percent of psychiatric hospitalizations.4 Yet, with help, many improve over time and are eventually able to lead productive lives.
Symptoms
While a person with depression or bipolar disorder typically endures the same mood for weeks, a person with BPD may experience intense bouts of anger, depression, and anxiety that may last only hours, or at most a day.5 These may be associated with episodes of impulsive aggression, self-injury, and drug or alcohol abuse. Distortions in cognition and sense of self can lead to frequent changes in long-term goals, career plans, jobs, friendships, gender identity, and values. Sometimes people with BPD view themselves as fundamentally bad, or unworthy. 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.
People with BPD often have highly unstable patterns of social relationships. While they can develop intense but stormy attachments, their attitudes towards family, friends, and loved ones may suddenly shift from idealization (great admiration and love) to devaluation (intense anger and dislike). Thus, they may form an immediate attachment and idealize the other person, but when a slight separation or conflict occurs, they switch unexpectedly to the other extreme and angrily accuse the other person of not caring for them at all. Even with family members, individuals with BPD are highly sensitive to rejection, reacting with anger and distress to such mild separations as a vacation, a business trip, or a sudden change in plans. These fears of abandonment seem to be related to difficulties feeling emotionally connected to important persons when they are physically absent, leaving the individual with BPD feeling lost and perhaps worthless. Suicide threats and attempts may occur along with anger at perceived abandonment and disappointments.
People with BPD exhibit other impulsive behaviors, such as excessive spending, binge eating and risky sex. BPD often occurs together with other psychiatric problems, particularly bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety disorders, substance abuse, and other personality disorders.
Treatment
Treatments for BPD have improved in recent years. Group and individual psychotherapy are at least partially effective for many patients. Within the past 15 years, a new psychosocial treatment termed dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) was developed specifically to treat BPD, and this technique has looked promising in treatment studies.6 Pharmacological treatments are often prescribed based on specific target symptoms shown by the individual patient. Antidepressant drugs and mood stabilizers may be helpful for depressed and/or labile mood. Antipsychotic drugs may also be used when there are distortions in thinking.7
Recent Research Findings
Although the cause of BPD is unknown, both environmental and genetic factors are thought to play a role in predisposing patients to BPD symptoms and traits. Studies show that many, but not all individuals with BPD report a history of abuse, neglect, or separation as young children.8 Forty to 71 percent of BPD patients report having been sexually abused, usually by a non-caregiver.9 Researchers believe that BPD results from a combination of individual vulnerability to environmental stress, neglect or abuse as young children, and a series of events that trigger the onset of the disorder as young adults. Adults with BPD are also considerably more likely to be the victim of violence, including rape and other crimes. This may result from both harmful environments as well as impulsivity and poor judgement in choosing partners and lifestyles.
NIMH-funded neuroscience research is revealing brain mechanisms underlying the impulsivity, mood instability, aggression, anger, and negative emotion seen in BPD. Studies suggest that people predisposed to impulsive aggression have impaired regulation of the neural circuits that modulate emotion.10 The amygdala, a small almond-shaped structure deep inside the brain, is an important component of the circuit that regulates negative emotion. In response to signals from other brain centers indicating a perceived threat, it marshals fear and arousal. This might be more pronounced under the influence of drugs like alcohol, or stress. Areas in the front of the brain (pre-frontal area) act to dampen the activity of this circuit. Recent brain imaging studies show that individual differences in the ability to activate regions of the prefrontal cerebral cortex thought to be involved in inhibitory activity predict the ability to suppress negative emotion.11
Serotonin, norepinephrine and acetylcholine are among the chemical messengers in these circuits that play a role in the regulation of emotions, including sadness, anger, anxiety, and irritability. Drugs that enhance brain serotonin function may improve emotional symptoms in BPD. Likewise, mood-stabilizing drugs that are known to enhance the activity of GABA, the brain's major inhibitory neurotransmitter, may help people who experience BPD-like mood swings. Such brain-based vulnerabilities can be managed with help from behavioral interventions and medications, much like people manage susceptibility to diabetes or high blood pressure.7
Future Progress
Studies that translate basic findings about the neural basis of temperament, mood regulation, and cognition into clinically relevant insights which bear directly on BPD represent a growing area of NIMH-supported research. Research is also underway to test the efficacy of combining medications with behavioral treatments like DBT, and gauging the effect of childhood abuse and other stress in BPD on brain hormones. Data from the first prospective, longitudinal study of BPD, which began in the early 1990s, is expected to reveal how treatment affects the course of the illness. It will also pinpoint specific environmental factors and personality traits that predict a more favorable outcome. The Institute is also collaborating with a private foundation to help attract new researchers to develop a better understanding and better treatment for BPD.
and it seems to me many ENFPs have BPD especially Bi-Polar Type 2 . I'm a type 2 as well. I'm just curious how this seem to relate to ENFPs soo much.
 
#3 ·
No matter a person's type, everyone who reads the definition of borderline personality disorder tends to think they have it. I've seen this type of post in other type forums. It's sort of like med students when they are learning about brain tumors.

Also, it's pretty "common" for ex's to claim their partner had borderline. I learned from my friend who is a psychologist that it is not as common as people believe , and the patients she treats with borderline personality order are extreme in their behaviors. They don't just "sort of " have it.
 
#9 ·
Sorry that I'm bringing back a thread that was written a very long time ago.
I found it through random Google searching with my ENFP friend (laughs).
Anyway, I do agree that it is common for ex's to "diagnose" their previous partner borderline. It seems to be the only "insult" some people can come up with when they've been in a so-called "bad relationship". Which ultimately gives actual borderline's a bad name on the street anyway. Though, generally people don't realize that they're generalizing a community when they behave in such ways. There have been people who have written books that were published claiming their ex's had borderline when they admit the person was never diagnosed in the first place- why these books are permitted on shelves I will never know.

Anyway, I also agree that most people will read the description in short and believe that they have this disorder. I had a friend recently that called me crying stating that she was looking things up and she was sure she had borderline when she doesn't have the tendencies to fit the actual criteria.

Speaking from a medical school point of view- actually BPD is more common than people think. It is the most common of all the personality disorders and a recent study has shown 15-25% of people seeking psychiatric care will be diagnosed with this disorder (mostly young women) which equals out to about 10 million or more Americans that will be effected by the disorder. The reason people do not think it is common is because it is seen as sort of a "third world" illness- very misunderstood. Bipolar is actually less common affecting 2% of the population. We have learned that bipolar is seen as sort of a "sexy diagnosis" in this generation and there are a lot of people diagnosed with it who actually do not have it at all.

Speaking from a biological point of view some people may have BPD- even a mild case- even as teenagers. Though, is generally told not to be diagnosed until adulthood. Sometimes our bodies go through biological changes and some people will grow out of a personality disorder, although, in most cases they won't. The point is, not every BPD has to be some sort of extremist. I have known a BPD who only fit 6 out of 9 criteria and she wasn't this "extreme" label people have floating around.

Also, if you're judging BPD by stereotypical film characters- you would have a very messed up and distorted view of the disorder. Alex in "Fatal Attraction" was not a borderline, she had Antisocial Personality Disorder. Borderline's do not lack empathy and compassion- her character did.

As for MBTI being a factor for personality disorders among types. I don't believe mental illness has anything to do with MBTI or type. It's biological, environmental, etcetera. My ESTP friend was recently diagnosed histrionic. I've known ISFJ's with BPD. I knew an Antisocial Personality Disordered woman who was ISTJ. I know depressed ISFP's. I know anxious ESFP's. It doesn't change who they are as people or make their type a certain label.
 
#4 ·
BPD is pretty rare, I mean most disorders in the DSM-IV contain symptoms we can all kind of relate to. I think it's matters of fact and degree. I myself have type II bipolar disorder. So it can be pretty aggravating when people try and cheer you up with platitudes like "Oh but everything will be alright" etc, or think that they suddenly understand depression because they had a depressed period when they broke up with their ex or something. But anyone suffering from the conditions themselves sees and feels the full scale enormity of a mental disorder. Most mental disorders are, after all, exaggerations of what is already human behaviour, so it's easy to relate to a plethora of disorders, but much, much, much harder to accurately diagnose them. As a general rule, if you think you might have a problem, I'd advocate not indulging in self-diagnosis, but rather getting yourself to a specialist ASAP to see if there really is a problem and how to control it...
 
#5 ·
I don't like to hear BPD, Bipolar and such referred to as disorders....Theyre extremes of personality that's all....There are 16 main personality types according to the Myers Brigg theory (might be the same for the original Jung theory too can't remember)....These 'others' that have what we refer to are personality disorders surely are just inclined to prefer a more extremes of the main attributes.

I don't know an awful lot about it but back in the 'olden days' ...BPD, Bipolar, ADHD, ADD (the lsit goes on...)...didn't exist. Ok so we've had advances in medicine and research and Im not saying thats at all bad, because the advances in medication are obviously very good and help in some way in most cases. I don't know the point im trying to make having not been in the situation of thinking I might have or do have extreme of personality, and I can't imagine it is very nice - I just think we can all be too quick to assume the label of disorders and that they are outsiders some how....Everyone is an individual.

Pie x
 
#6 ·
I don't tend to relate to any mental health disorders, including this one (maybe that means I do have one :tongue:). I get depressed when bad things happen, but I think that's a pretty healthy response.

I have met people with mental illnesses though, so I know when you have them they really affect your life. I think people who get confused about it just have nothing to compaire to.

Personally I think it's important to accept that bi-polar , ADHD ect do cause people problems, hence the disability/disorder tag they can acquire. Knowing you have problems and having help specifically for your problems is incredibly importaint. There is only an issue with the term when there is a stigma to it, as if you are a lesser being in general. I think there is nothing wrong with the word itself, provided it is not used it a judgmental or patronising way.

I have dyslexia, and I don't mind being called disabled or the like. I think minding would mean I feel I am some how better than those who are sometimes thought of as the more traditionally disabled. I expect to be treated with the same respect as any other human being, and I expect that for others with mental health issues or disabilities.
 
#7 ·
I don't have borderline personality disorder, but I do have bipolar disorder and asperger's syndrome. I highly doubt any of these three disorders are more common in ENFPs than in other types - though certain traits may indeed be accentuated in ENFPs. Given our general Ne spaceiness, for example, the manic episodes of bipolar ENFPs would be particularly visibly apparent.
 
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#8 ·
Big difference between tendency to behave in a disorderly fashion and between actually harboring a personality disorder. Plus, if you know you are prone to behaving this way, it is all the more reason to abstain from it :happy:
 
#10 ·
Mental disorder is characterized at a basic level by an inability to live a healthy fulfilling life.

I do not have this problem, and I don't think that the vast majority of ENFP's do. There are probably at least 10 disorders which would seem appropriate for each personality type... but again the FIRST criteria before you even crack open the DSM is "Can this person work, love, eat, keep a healthy house, and plan for the future?" If yes then no problem.

And in the words of Kerouac (who I strongly suspect was an ENFP):

“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!”
 
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#12 ·
i work in psychiatric nursing and have bipolar disorder type 1 (which is NOT any longer shortened to BPD, by the way, that is only borderline personality disorder. It is now called bipolar affective disorder and not shortened to BAD because that'd be fucking dumb). Anybody in this thread reading it and saying "gosh, that DOES sound like me/ENFPs!" has guaranteed never in their life to have truly encountered or interacted with somebody who has borderline personality. It is a fucking horrifyingly debilitating and life-ruining disorder for most of the people that have it and almost intolerable for 'average' people who have to counter their extremes of behaviour and utter lack of self-identity in real life.

BPD is most typically cause by significant abuse during childhood triggering this loss of self-identity and emotional unbalance, which obviously can and does happen to any type. Even if you could have it more commonly associated with a type, it'd still be utterly impossible to say which one as you cannot accurately type someone by a personality measure when they have a personality disorder. There's no yardstick for you to even use.
 
#13 ·
My mom has Borderline Personality Disorder and vacillates between the queen and the witch.

I've seen some VERY unhealthy ENFP's, but they never came close to how mom was when I was growing up. My sister was the golden child, and my mom hated me for being born. Little things would have my mom in a rage for hours as soon as we were alone with her. If I had to guess, I would say that my mom is an ISFJ. (I don't have anything to do with my mom.)

I've had ENFP's upset with me before, but I have never seen any who were truly hateful like my mom. The most hateful I have ever seen an ENFP was one who hated my parents for stuff they did to me, but she wasn't so hateful to actually do anything to them.

I wouldn't wish being exposed to BPD on my worst enemy.
 
#14 ·
I can't see BPD being type specific. I think the name should be changed. It is an outdated description that no longer applies. When I think of a child not receiving the nurturence to feel safely attached to their parent to the point that they are emotionally stunted and have loss of identity, it makes me really really sad. You can't undo what wasn't done properly. But I've also read and talked to others with BPD (I don't have it btw) that if the person takes ownership of the diagnosis and doesn't try to manipulate their health team and sticks with the programs in place now - there is good chance for success.

 
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#15 ·
As a "rational" who's been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, I have to join the gang stating it has nothing to do with type. There can be many factors involved. In my case it was a complete incompatibility with my family, and being bullied and raised into guilt for not being like them, for being "wrong" and ruining their perfect little ESxJ family and not doing anything to fix myself. Which obviously made me build up a not so healthy image of myself, based on what I was expected to be. And when I realized what I was expected to be has nothing to do with what I am, enter chaos.

What I can say is, if you think one type or another could be more prone to this kind of behaviour, think about what kind of hell it must be to have it when your "natural true self" is a meh-faced, cold-hearted rational. Self-hatred is a nasty thing doing even nastier things to people. And the constant overthinking and "big picture" analysis isn't helping much. Being a "rational" with BPD is pretty much like being a very physically active person stuck in bed for months with an illness, but the other way around.

And please please please, don't take it lightly and throw the label on aynone who's a bit too emotional or needy or who knows what. I've lost jobs, relationships, friends, and dropped out of uni twice because of it. It's not something you can explain to people easily, it's not like you can be all gee, sorry I'm three hours late, ya know, I slashed my arms again because of some minor shit that happened yesterday and then I just layed on the bathroom floor dissociating for ages, but ta-daaaah, here I am now! It really fucks lives. And makes you fuck others' lives too. And then you feel guilty for it, and feel like shit for "disappointing" everyone "once again". And so on. And everyone just tells you to "get over it".

For those who want to know more about the disorder, I can recommend Alexander Chapman's book The BPD Survival Guide.
 
#16 ·
Thanks for sharing your experience. And sorry you went through what you did. And go through what you do. I hope you can recover from it. Many people have. So you can live your life happier. You definitely deserve it.
 
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#17 ·
My one very good friend in college is an ENFP and she has nothing close to anything that I can compare to Borderline. She has a talent for encouraging people and the one time I saw her get angry because of her boss put her down in front of her coworkers she came home and talked to me until a migraine took hold of her and had to lie down. That is not the portrait of anyone with a Personality Disorder.

What I have experienced a long time ago was a serious relationship I had with someone and as time went by while we lived together it became apparent that he had Borderline Personality Disorder. Yes, he was sexually abused as a child and there was a lot of pain in him that neither I or he knew what to do about. Really I felt helpless to the point that I had to leave in order to keep my own sanity in tact.
 
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#18 ·
I believe it is impossible without 1- the BPD acknowledging and working towards recovery and 2- a professional(s) involved. I thought I could help anyone out of pure love and desire. But alas - big pill to swallow - but it's over my head.
 
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