Some are suggesting that this study is some sort of groundbreaking work in understanding borderline personality disorder. While an interesting brain study, I’d suggest it tells us a lot less than the authors purport.
First, this is a classic laboratory study. And while laboratory …
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I have borderline. Thanks for this post.
I am wondering of Dr. Grohol has heard of the scientific concept of “converging evidence?” There are different places in the brain involved with emotional regulation. As we understand more about how the brain responds to different stimuli under real and simulated conditions, we learn more about the brain and perhaps the disorder. Certainly there are caveats to show this study is preliminary. But many studies using fMTI have small sample sizes. Also, tasks of simple stimuli presentation have shown to be illuminating. Peraps Dr. Grohol would like to review his neuropsychology info to realize that there is more to this study and that perhaps he is being overly critical.
Converging evidence is fantastic. But please tell me how learning that the brain area thought to regulate emotions shows “less activation” in someone who has problems regulating his or her emotions is helpful to researchers or clinicians — I’m all ears.
Hello Dr Grohol,
I think the point is that they found EVIDENCE, proof, you know. Not just lengthy theoretical explorations like psychology has been famous for to explain disorders like schizophrenia. The reaction from the psychoanalytic community at the time was probably as flippant in tone as this article is.
Even with a small sample, it’s better than broad, loosely defined retrospective meta-analyses carried out mostly since DSM III, on the effectiveness (or rather, ineffectiveness as most patients drop out) of various psychotherapy modes for BPD over time.
As one therapist might say to another, try to be open to new possibilities and hope for more immediate treatment for these severely disordered patients, rather than cling to old models that clearly take too long as 5 to 10% afflicted are continuing to commit suicide, in spite of advances in talk therapy.
Wishing you the best.
I made my argument in the article — a word test isn’t equivalent to measuring actual, real behavior in a real-world environment.
Functional MRI studies are notorious in science because we’re taken in by the enticing images of brain activity. A study such as this one may help us better understand a component of borderline personality disorder — but it literally shed no new light on the problem.
This study showed that stress or negative situations perhaps could possibly lead to increased symptoms of the disorder. This is not news to any researcher or clinician (or, I dare say, most people with the disorder).
If you’d like, a more positive spin on this study’s findings would be to say, “This study confirmed previous findings that stress or negative situations can exacerbate symptoms of this disorder.”
This is fascinating to me though.
Because personally, dx BPD, I spent years feeling absolutely nothing. I floated. I sometimes tried to express how unreal reality was, but no one understood me. There were occasional horrendously painful breakthroughs of overwhelming negative emotions like fear, self-loathing, total despair… but except for a constant nebulous underlying tension, it was always all or nothing and almost always nothing. Mostly I never bothered anyone, I never saw a doctor, I did not compete with anyone, I painstakingly avoided “waking” anyone’s jealousy or envy, I never invested myself emotionally in my relationships; it was as if I had never been born.
My ability to “shut down” has well served me in moments of crisis – as the first to arrive on the scene of a fatal car accident and attend to those gravely hurt, horribly mutilated but still breathing, still conscious, would be one example. Or in caring for a relative up until her last breath so that she could die of cancer in her own home.
If the dx of BPD was accurate in my case, I am firmly convinced that what is not talked about enough in BPD is vaguely referred to as “dissociation” or “depersonalization”. I think it is not limited to, but includes -most importantly- a numbing of the senses, a shutdown of any normal range of neutral or positive emotions or more modulated, lighter negative ones.
I think many of those of us with BPD are actually invisible most of the time and then suddenly too visible when emotionally overwhelmed. So much of the description for BPD is only true in times of crisis; I remember in one of my worst crises, which dragged on for years, how I desperately longed for any animate being – even a cat – to be by my side, which was totally out of sync with how content I am normally to work by myself, to spend hours reading, to travel alone, as I am rather introverted by nature.
I find it ironic that BPD sufferer’s are seen as so emotional, when the bottom line is that we actually have a much more limited range of emotions that your average person. Perhaps because anxiety arises so often so quickly to throttle any more nuanced emotional reaction…
It’s true that I am particularly introspective by nature and internalize everything so perhaps my experience as BPD’ed is far from typical. But still I’m convinced that there is something in this study that merits close attention.
You describe me perfectly well Zephyr, in my early life. Imagine being this way and on the rare occassion you come under mental health care, get a Borderline PD only to be treated like the despised attention seeking, pain in the ass borderline you are not. I kept to myself and avoided any kind of treatment for just this reason. I saw the attitudes and was shamed and avoided that kind of help which would of been more damaging to me than helpful. Luckily some attitudes have changed as more is learnt and I have now an enlightend therapist. I have grown alot in strenght emotionaly to withstand those strong emotions, though still have setbacks sometimes. Just so many wasted early years before.
I am sixteen years of age and I read a lot of places that psychologists aren’t suppose to diagnose a person under the age of 18 because of the still developing personality. I was diagnosed in December of last year and this constantly interfears with my life because I don’t have very good coping skills and I “like” to dwell on things for a long time. I think if I wouldn’t have been diagnose and told about it I wouldn’t dwell on it so much…
My name is dayna and I’m 17 years old. I was told by my psychologist and the crisis team at the hospital recently that I have borderline personality disorder. I told my dad which allowed him to finally admiy the fact that he has had his whole life. My aunty had it too. She killed herself a couple years back.. I can’t let go of the fact that my dad knew and never told me. I have abused drugs and alcohol for most of my teen years from just not knowing what the hell is wrong with me and just wanting the feeling to go away! I feel that had made it a lot worse for me.. When I first found out I was so relieved. I was OK for the first day… but then I started realising what this meant… years of more pain and more therapy.. but I know i will never get anywhere dwelling on it. I need to focus on myself and not hurting others around me, cuz that’s really what gets me down. Raina, now that you know the problem think of it as a positive. You are now able to get the help you need to be happy. Be thankful we are so young and have a chance to have a normal life when we are older. Be proud of who you are, who really is “normal” these days anyway. I like to think of positive things about myself and others everyday. Also things I’m greatful for. Sounds stupid I know but after a while it makes you start appreciating the little things cuz at first I was writing little things like I’m greatful I could eat today. And now there a