Q. I think it is fairly well defined that my spouse is BPD, or at least she has “text-book” profile according to all my research, admittedly on the layman level. In any case, I just read on this site the discussion about renaming BPD to something else based partly on what seemed to me a complete physical or biological explanation for the actions/reactions of “borderlines”. I may have misunderstood the point here, but if this is the thrust of the idea, then how does the “chemical imbalance” view square with the other criteria I have read: childhood abuse (physical, sexual, neglect, etc.), adolescent failures, early and failed marriage, now into near-failed second marriage, etc.? Not that I am asking for an either/or answer here, and certainly I am not pleased with the BPD label.
A. The name of the diagnosis is a horrible label. The BPD seems to be where psychological trauma and physical trauma cause the same processes in the brain. It appears to be from brain injury. It’s not a “chemical imbalance” – it’s a brain injury that fortunately can now be treated with non addicting medications.
The majority of the symptoms are from brain malfunction and the person’s adaptation to those malfunctions. The medical symptoms are moodiness, chronic anger, emptiness, boredom, dysphoria (anxiety, rage, depression, despair), dissociation, and feeling like a “cornered animal.” The ability to handle stress is also markedly reduced. Stressors trigger a worsening of the above symptoms.