HOW IS BIPOLAR AFFECTIVE DISORDER DIFFERENT FROM BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER?
David, Nigeria.
PDoc,
This is often asked and the fact is, among psychiatrists, there is an ongoing argument about the existence of BPD. I will like to keep it simple and spare you all the medical jargon, they both share a lot in common but the subtle differences are
• FEATURES: a borderline is far more unlikely to sustain a relationship because of their unstable personality, they shift between extremes of “I love him…I hate him” and this goes on and on. This is not so for the bipolar patient. So finding out how the individual’s relationships (both romantic and otherwise) over a long period can be a simple test for differentiating them.
• TREATMENT: though treatment is similar, medications (including mood stabilizers, antidepressants etc) and psychotherapy, the emphasis of treatment is different. BPD emphasizes more on psychotherapy than medication while the reverse is the case for BAD. Also antidepressants which are normally very helpful in BPD can cause a manic phase in BAD.
Now, with these few words of mine, I hope I have been able to confuse…sorry, clarify the difference. Like I said before it’s subtle but you can check out PsychEducation.org for more information on their differences.
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