Borderline Personality Disorder as Devastating as Bipolar Disorder

Amy Taylor April 28, 2015

Whilst not as popular as the other mental health problems, borderline personality disorder can cause serious physical and psychiatric health issues as bipolar disorder, according to new research.

The study, headed by Mark Zimmerman, M.D., director of outpatient psychiatry at Rhode Island Hospital and director of the Rhode Island Methods to Improve Diagnostic Assessment and Services (MIDAS) project, presents the largest comparison of patients who have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder (BPD). People suffering from this mental health disorder experience problems regulating emotions and thoughts, often teetering at extremes. They also tend to engage in reckless and impulsive behaviours, causing a not-so-good relationship with other people.

And even though people with bipolar disorder experience the same mood for weeks, those who have BPD are able to cope with intense bouts of anger, anxiety and depression in short duration. According to Zimmerman’s research, BPD is just as disabling as bipolar disorder.

Like in bipolar disorder, people with BPD are also likely to suffer from depression, anxiety problems, eating disorders, substance abuse, and suicidal behaviour. What makes it worse is that such co-occurring mental illnesses may have symptoms that overlap with BPD, which makes it difficult for doctors to recognise and distinguish patients with BPD from others with mental illness.

"The level of psychosocial morbidity and suicidality associated with BPD is as great, or greater, than that experienced by patients with bipolar disorder," said Zimmerman. "From a public health perspective, improving the detection and treatment of BPD is as imperative as diagnosing and treating bipolar disorders."

"Despite the clinical and public health significance of both of these disorders, it sometimes seems as if BPD lives in the shadow of bipolar disorder,"

"Bipolar disorder is a widely researched, well-publicized, well-funded topic. By contrast, BPD is seldom discussed and it is not included in the Global Burden of Disease study, a comprehensive registry that quantifies diseases by cost, mortality, geography, risk and other factors."

His findings were published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

Source of this article: Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder as a potentially aggravating factor in borderline personality disorder