Results of a long term study show that borderline personality disorder (BPD) and bipolar disorder do not commonly co-exist, a finding that has important implications for treatment.
BPD is results in a long term pattern of impulsive behaviour, changeable moods and instability- some of the traits that are commonly seen in bipolar disorder.
John Gunderson, MD, medical director of the Borderline Personality Disorder Treatment Center at McLean Hospital, conducted test to see whether BPD is a variant of bipolar disorder. He did so by assessing 196 people with BPD and 433 people with other personality disorders.
His findings revealed only a modest connection to bipolar disorder among the people with BPD, with the rate of co-occurring bipolar among these people at nineteen percent. Among other people with other personality disorders, the rate of co-occurring bipolar was eight percent.
The results have important implications for treatment since many people with BPD only receive a diagnosis of bipolar disorder and the two disorders are treated differently.
The study is published in The American Journal of Psychiatry and is entitled “Descriptive and Longitudinal Observations on the Relationship of Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar Disorder.
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One Response to “Slight Link Between Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar Disorder” (Pingbacks/trackbacks not shown below)
Sabrina McKain at 2:31 pm on
November 29th, 2006
I need to find a treatment center that treats both Bipolar (type 1) and borderline personality disorder. I don’t even know where to start, but was advised by my psychiatrist that I needed the stability of an inpatint center. Can you help me?
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I need to find a treatment center that treats both Bipolar (type 1) and borderline personality disorder. I don’t even know where to start, but was advised by my psychiatrist that I needed the stability of an inpatint center. Can you help me?
