Emotionally unstable personality disorder most often lies in wait for women. Among the entire population, it can be found in 2% of cases. In patients who are on outpatient treatment in a psychiatric hospital - 10%, and in patients hospitalized in a psychiatric clinic - 20%.
How does the disease manifest itself?
In ICD 10, an emotionally unstable personality disorder is characterized as imbalance, inability to control oneself and increased impulsivity.
The disease is observed in people both young and older. A person’s self-esteem is violated, he cannot form relationships with other people and very often is in a state of non-existence, or, in other words, affect.
In this disease, patients:
- They feel constant loneliness and make furious attempts to avoid it.
- They are characterized by a sharp change of mood.
- They experience a feeling of separation, loss, as a result of which their behavior, emotions, thinking and sensations inevitably change.
- They have a huge fear of changes in plans.
- They become angry and unbalanced even at small intervals of separation.
- They believe that if they are left alone, it will do them great harm. These feelings cause impulsive behavior, which can lead to self-harm to the patient.
A person can so violently perceive as an effective reality, and come up with his own vision of our world.
How are interpersonal relationships?
Relations with other people are unstable. They are accompanied by conflict situations.
Patients idealize their guardians or lovers from the first days of acquaintance. They want to constantly be with the object of desire and from the first days require entry into intimate aspects.
At the same time, the ideal also quickly devalues in their eyes. They easily begin to think that the person who was so close to them has cooled down and is not paying due attention.
Their empathy is based only on the expectation that other people will begin to sympathize and satisfy all the desires and needs of the patient. If their opinions diverge, then emotionally unstable individuals sharply change their views on others.
What is the identity expressed?
It is expressed in the instability of the presentation of his personality. Variable assessment of your "I" is expressed in the constant change of life goals and professional skills. For example, a good-natured person asking for help for himself suddenly becomes angry and vengeful. However, he always fights for the truth.
Although in most cases these individuals consider themselves evil and aggressive, and sometimes even think that they do not exist on this planet. This is mainly manifested when a person does not feel his significance and support from the people around him.
Individuals susceptible to the disease are impulsive in risk situations. They can:
- get involved in gambling;
- Do not know the accounts of money and spend it irresponsibly;
- eat a lot of food and not feel full;
- apply psychotropic substances;
- change a lot of sexual partners;
- take risks while driving a car.
Suicidal tendency
People with emotionally unstable personality disorder are predisposed to actions that can take their lives. In this case, suicidal attempts are constantly repeated.
Despite the fact that patients love to defiantly attempt suicide, only eight percent achieve complete death. The actions of the rest are aimed at making people who are close to them pay attention to them. They can cut themselves or intentionally create burns on their bodies. If attention is not paid and help is not provided, attempts to take their own lives continue.
They can be caused by the impending separation from the object of love. At the same time, suicidal attempts provide relief for some time, especially if the patient is heard and understood, as well as these actions made the other person realize that he was wrong in relation to the patient.
Symptoms of emotionally unstable personality disorder
People belonging to this type are characterized as follows:
- Constantly in tension.
- Their well-being is oscillatory.
- A person may look depressed and depressed for several days.
- Irritation and anxiety can last from several hours to several days.
- Patients feel emptied and therefore constantly try to do something.
- Sometimes, in a very ordinary setting, they violently express anger, sarcasm and verbal outbursts. Moreover, they immediately feel an acute sense of guilt for their actions and thereby seem to themselves even more vicious.
- Patients are carefree, cheeky and at the same time secretive.
These people are able to destroy everything when the goal is almost achieved. For example, drop out of school before graduation or break off relations at a time when everything is well established.
Attacks of a state in which a person feels as if outside of reality, in a strangely changed world, or feels that his mind has separated from his body, arise precisely in periods of abandonment and loneliness. But as soon as care resumes, these symptoms disappear.
The most common personality disorders
The most common and common emotionally unstable personality disorders include:
- Manifestation of bulimia (after eating, a person gets rid of it, artificially causing vomiting).
- Stress disorders after injuries.
- A sharp change of mood.
- At a young age, there is no control over impulses.
- Suicidal attacks. Most often manifested at a young age. The older a person becomes, the less he is pursued by attempts to take his own life.
- Tense relationships with people and impulsive disorders haunt a person throughout his life.
These manifestations are especially pronounced in individuals who abuse psychotropic active substances.
Those who seek the help of specialized medical institutions are subject to treatment. Improvements come in the first year of therapy.
What types of personality disorders are there?
There are two types of this disease:
- border type;
- impulsive type.
In a borderline state, in addition to emotional instability, difficulties arise with the awareness of one's own image. A person does not feel his intentions and preferences, thereby striving to harm himself.
Self-esteem of the person is very high, which is not perceived by others properly. The patient is too arrogant and impatient.
In the second type, the personality is prone to impulsive manifestations and acts in all situations hastily, without thinking about the consequences. In response to condemnation from the people around him, the patient shows stiffness and aggression.
Impulsive type diagnostics
This type is characterized by the following manifestations:
- The tendency to act suddenly. Do not take into account the consequences of their actions.
- Relations with people around are built on a constant conflict.
- Anger and violence are manifested.
- Patients require immediate encouragement for their actions, otherwise they do not finish the job.
- Unstable mood, accompanied by constant moods.
Being surrounded by this type is difficult and unpleasant.
Border Diagnostics
For the borderline state, the following characteristics are distinguished:
- Man does not understand himself. He does not feel his own "I" and therefore can not decide what he really wants.
- The patient enters into erratic relationships, constantly changing partners.
- Directs all his energy to avoid being alone.
- The patient is prone to suicidal behavior.
- He constantly feels a sense of uselessness and emptiness.
If you turn to a psychiatric clinic for treatment at a young age, then by the age of 40 you will find relationships with other people as well as professional relationships.
Varieties of border type
This type of pathology has several forms into which it has been divided for an easier diagnosis of emotionally unstable personality disorder. Here is a list of them:
- phobic form;
- hysterical;
- pseudo-depressive;
- intrusive;
- psychosomatic;
- psychotic.
Let us dwell in more detail on each of them.
Phobic shape
The patient’s thoughts are constantly occupied with a variety of fears and anxieties. These feelings leave a certain imprint on the emotional state of a person.
People are able to exaggerate problems and at the same time distance themselves from their solutions. They do not want to be responsible for anything.
Hysterical form
This form characterizes people who like to dramatize in public and have theatrical talents.
These patients achieve their goals by manipulating other people.
Their actions are quite active, or, conversely, a person looks too depressed, which in some cases can lead to suicidal actions.
Pseudo-depressive form
In this case, the actions of people are different from classical depression. People do not perceive themselves in reality and cannot evaluate their actions. This form in some cases represents suicide.
Obsessive form
In this case, patients are fixated on hiding their mental disorders. To relieve internal stress, she gives out to the world a huge number of ideas.
Psychosomatic form
With this disease, patients complain of somatic disorders of the cardiovascular system and gastrointestinal tract. But during the examination, these problems are not identified.
Psychotic form
This is the most severe form of the disease, which includes specific personality disorders. Man is renounced from the real world. He raves, and he is haunted by hallucinations. As a result, all his actions become aimed at self-destruction.
Impulsive type treatment
With patients, individual or group psychotherapy is performed. Apply means aimed at suppressing impulsive states.
Gestalt therapy and behavioral therapy are also used.
Borderline treatment
It can be very difficult to determine the borderline state sometimes even for several years. The doctor conducts a large number of studies and prescribes therapeutic treatment only after the clinical picture becomes clear.
The treatment process necessarily includes the procedures of psychotherapy.
The actions of doctors are directed to:
- The return of man to the real habitat.
- The patient's ability to withstand emerging stressful situations.
- Improving the patient's relationship with other people.
- Fighting emotional imbalance.
During the entire treatment, the patient should be surrounded by the care and love of people close to him.
Therapeutic approaches
Doctors use the following therapeutic approaches:
- Dialectical and behavioral. Negative patient attitudes are detected and replaced with positive ones.
- Cognitive and analytical. As a result of the actions of doctors, patients begin to understand their condition and learn to deal with its manifestations.
Treatment is chosen depending on the individual characteristics of the patient.
Medications for treating personality disorders
Among medications are:
- Antipsychotics. Fight impulsive explosions.
- Antidepressants. They are used most often, as they help to cope with the stresses and anxieties of the patient.
- Normotimics. They help improve the condition of the patient and improve his relations with the outside world.
More successful treatment takes place only at a young age. The older a person becomes, the more difficult it is to treat him.