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Stigma of Borderline Personality Disorder Label

People who deal with disability on a daily basis, many times, have also had to deal with stigma associated with their disability. Those with a physical illness, whose disability is an obvious one, may have it “easier” than those who have a mental illness, whose disability is a “hidden disability.” For people who have Borderline Personality Disorder, their stigma is associated in the very label of the disorder.

There is confusion over the actual name Borderline Personality Disorder. Some people feel that this disorder was mis-named to begin with. Dr. Leland Heller is an expert in Borderline Personality Disorder treatment, and he believes the very label is inaccurate, and that the term “Borderline Personality Disorder” implies that the whole person, and the whole personality, is flawed. He objects strongly to this implication, because the most recent research on the disorder indicates that the actual cause of Borderline Personality Disorder is not a “flawed personality” but instead a biologically based brain disorder. Dr. Heller believes this biological basis is a dysfunction of the limbic system of the brain, which is backed up with recent research on the biological components of Borderline Personality Disorder.

Dr. Heller believes Borderline Personality Disorder should actually be called “Dyslimbia.” “Dys” means malfunction, and “limbia” meaning from the limbic system. “Dyslimbia,” then, is a “malfunction of the limbic system.” While other neuropsychiatric disorders also involve malfunction of the limbic system, the limbic system dysfunction is profound in Borderline Personality Disorder. If the disorder were renamed “Dyslimbia,” then, there would be much less stigma attached to it.

Time after time, the use of negative language has proven to have a part in stigma and to be a major influence on individual and public attitudes toward people with disabilities. Marilyn Dahl, in “The Role of the Media in Promoting Images of Disability,” asserts that this often constitutes “a major barrier for people with disabilities.” Even with progress being made to use less stigmatizing disability terms, psychiatry has still not kept up with these changes, however, and the label of Borderline Personality Disorder is such an example.

The actual term "Borderline Personality Disorder" dates back to the early 1900’s, when people with mental health disabilities were categorized as either neurotic or psychotic. Dr. Stern, an early psychiatrist, realized that a growing body of patients did not fit into either of these categories, and coined the term “borderline,” as a combination of neuroses and psychoses. Even though Dr. Stern’s theory went out of favor shortly after it was proposed, the "borderline" label still stuck. Although it is not totally accurate, it is part of the reason that people with the disorder are still suffering the stigma of it today.

Joel Dvoskin, PhD., states that “not all mental health diagnoses foster treatment,” when speaking about the stigma of the label of Borderline Personality Disorder. He dislikes the term because it so often results in the sub-standard treatment of people diagnosed with the disorder. For example, mental health professionals often label undesired behaviors of Borderline Personality Disorder clients as "manipulative." In fact, it was in response to this label of “manipulative,” and that Borderline Personality Disorder patients are traditionally known as being the most uncooperative and difficult-to-treat patients, that Marsha Linehan, PhD., developed Dialectical Behavior Therapy, the type of therapy now being used successfully to treat patients with Borderline Personality Disorder.

When stigma is coming even from the mental health community, it is difficult to expect any less stigma from the larger community, but with more understanding of Borderline Personality Disorder, and more successful treatment of the disorder, perhaps the stigma can be diminished.

About the Author

David Oliver is the founder of BorderlineCentral.com a one stop source of information on how to cope and deal with borderline personality disorder.

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