Borderline Personality Disorder

Borderline Personality Disorder
A Review of the Disorder

Dianne Davis

Psychology 101
Professor Moya
September 26, 2010

Borderline Personality Disorder
A Review of the Disorder
    Introduction:   An individual’s cognitive and social learning experiences vary as a result of the particular social and cultural conditions to which he or she is exposed in the home, at school, and in other environments. Personality traits may predict many important aspects of behavior. The setting in which behavior occurs often provides the best predictions about what people will do. During the course of development, we acquire intense emotional reactions to many stimuli. Events that once were neutral may become either pleasurable or painful as the result of conditioning. Some reactions may involve strong anxiety and can have crippling effects, such as borderline personality.

    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 (National Institute of Mental Health).
    Borderline personality disorder is characterized by (intense and unstable emotions, (2) behavioral impulsivity, (3) a tendency to view others as uncaring and rejecting, (4) a pattern of intense interpersonal relationships characterized by extremes of idealization and devaluation, and (5) negative self-concept or a lack of a coherent sense of self (Adams, Bernat, & Luscher, 2001; Sperry, 1995). Each of these factors must be addressed in a comprehensive model of BPD and its treatment (Freeman, 2007, p. 151).
    Research on emotional and social development may prove useful in illuminating our understanding of BPD in that the biological and social... [continues]

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