Does the fact that researchers are continuing to make some kind of progress in neuro-biologically discovering aspects of Borderline Personality Disorder mean that there isn't hope for recovery? As someone who has recovered from BPD years ago, I know personally that the answer is no. There is every reason to continue to believe, hope, and know, that if you have BPD, you can recover. There is no need for some magical-cure-all pill that may never be able to be developed.
Brain Scans Clarify Borderline Personality Disorder
"Using real-time brain imaging, a team of researchers have discovered
that patients with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) are physically
unable to regulate emotion. The findings, by Harold W. Koenigsberg, MD, professor of psychiatry
at Mount Sinai School of Medicine suggest individuals with BPD are
unable activate neurological networks that would help to control
feelings. The research will be published in the journal Biological Psychiatry."
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D.
on September 4, 2009
Using
real-time brain imaging, a team of researchers have discovered that
patients with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) are physically
unable to regulate emotion.
The findings, by Harold W. Koenigsberg, MD, professor of psychiatry
at Mount Sinai School of Medicine suggest individuals with BPD are
unable activate neurological networks that would help to control
feelings.
The research will be published in the journal Biological Psychiatry.
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), researchers
viewed how the brains of people with BPD reacted to social and
emotional stimuli.
Koenigsberg found that when people with BPD attempted to control and
reduce their reactions to disturbing emotional scenes, the anterior
cingulate cortex and intraparetical sulci areas of the brain that are
active in healthy people under the same conditions remained inactive in
the BPD patients.
“This research shows that BPD patients are not able to use those
parts of the brain that healthy people use to help regulate their
emotions,” said Dr. Koenigsberg.
“This may explain why their emotional reactions are so extreme. The
biological underpinnings of the disordered emotional control systems
are central to borderline pathology. Studying which areas of the brain
function differently in patients with borderline personality disorder
can lead to more targeted uses of psychotherapy and medications, and also provide a link to connect the genetic basis of the disorder.”
According to background information in the article, borderline
personality disorder is a common condition, affecting up to two percent
of all adults in the United States, mostly women.
Characteristics of BPD include being so emotionally overreactive that they suffer alternating bouts of depression, anxiety and anger, are interpersonally hypersensitive, and are impelled to self-destructive and even suicidal behavior.
Patients with BPD often exhibit other types of impulsive behaviors, including 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.
The disorder is found in 10 to 20 percent of people in psychiatric
care, and about 10 percent of people with this condition ultimately die
of suicide. Only recently have researchers begun to identify underlying
biological factors associated with the condition.
Source: Psyche Central
Does this mean that people with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) can't get better? Does this mean that the only hope for people with BPD, when it comes to recovery, is medication? No! In my own personal experience the answer is no!
Recovery from BPD is possible. If you have BPD you need to know this. Hope is not false hope. Recovery is possible. There aren't enough people taking the time to point this out. There aren't enough professionals who will actually discuss this, let alone map it out or explain it.
Do I know that recovery from BPD is possible only because I recovered? No. Is it just me that is saying it is possible. No. There is as much evidence that recovery from BPD can and does take place on neuro-biological level as well as a psychological and spiritual level.
I will be writing much more about this in the near future so I hope that you will check back here to my blog and also check for audio and ebooks on this subject and on BPD recovery at Phoenix Rising Publications.
© A.J. Mahari, September 7, 2009
