Do you want to learn borderline personality disorder vs bipolar:
In this article, you will learn about many points that will show borderline personality disorder vs bipolar that is, Borderline personality disorder (BPD) and bipolar disorder (BD) are both mental illnesses that can associate with dramatic mood swings. While many of their symptoms overlap, these two conditions have different causes, symptoms, and treatments.
One major difference between the two is that BD is a mood disorder, characterized by persistently abnormal moods. While BPD is a personality disorder, characterized by instability in relationships, self-image, and moods.
According to the National Institute of Mental HealthTrusted Source, about 1.4 percent of adults in the United States have BPD.
Bipolar disorder affects a person’s mood, energy, thoughts, activity levels, and functionality in cycles that can last for days to months. It is more common than BPD and affects an estimated 2.6 percent of the population in the U.S.
The similarity between borderline personality disorder and bipolar:
The primary reason that some experts have proposed that BPD and bipolar disorder may be related is that they share the common feature of mood instability.
The main symptoms of BD include dramatic changes in mood states. The highs, or elevated, expansive, or irritable periods, can consider manic episodes. The lows, or sad, empty, or hopeless periods, are depressive episodes. Experiencing both manic episodes and depressive episodes differentiates BD from major depressive disorder (MDD), which is dominated by only depressive episodes.
BPD is also associated with mood changes, sometimes called emotional affective instability. People with BPD can frequently change from feeling fine to feeling extremely distressed in a matter of minutes.
Impulsive behavior can also experience both by people with bipolar disorder and by people with BPD.
Difference:
Some major points separate the two:
- Quality: While both disorders can also characterize by mood changes, the quality of the mood changes can be very different. People with bipolar disorder tend to experience mania and depression. While people with BPD experience intense emotional pain and feelings of emptiness, desperation, anger, hopelessness, and loneliness.
- Time: In BPD, mood changes are often more short-lived. They may last for only a few hours at a time. In contrast, mood changes. Bipolar disorder tends to last for days or even weeks.
- Cause: Mood shifts in BPD are usually in reaction to an environmental stressor, such as an argument with a loved one, whereas mood shifts. Bipolar disorder may occur out-of-the-blue.
- Degree: The mood shifts typical of BPD rarely involve elation. Usually, the shift is from feeling upset to feeling OK, not from feeling bad to feeling a high or elevated mood, which is more typical of bipolar disorder.
How are bipolar and BPD treated together?
The treatments of bipolar disorder and BPD are different because each disorder causes different symptoms.
Bipolar disorder requires several types of treatment, including:
- Medication. Medication can include mood stabilizers, antipsychotics, antidepressants, and anti-anxiety medications.
- Psychotherapy. Examples include talk, family, or group therapy.
- Alternative treatments. This may include electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).
- Sleep medications. If insomnia is a symptom, your doctor may prescribe sleep medications.
BPD is primarily treated with talk therapy — the same type of therapy that can help treat bipolar disorder. But your doctor may also suggest:
- cognitive behavioral therapy
- dialectic behavior therapy
- schema-focused therapy
- Systems Training for Emotional Predictability and Problem Solving (STEPPS)
Experts don’t recommend that people with BPD use medications as their primary treatment. Sometimes medication can worsen symptoms, especially suicidal tendencies. But sometimes a doctor might recommend medications to treat specific symptoms, such as shifts in mood or depression.
Hospitalization may be necessary for treating people with both disorders. The manic episodes that go along with bipolar disorder combined with the suicidal tendencies sparked by BPD may cause a person to attempt to take their life.
If you have both disorders, you should avoid drinking alcohol and doing illicit drugs. These disorders increase a person’s risk for substance abuse, which can worsen your symptoms.
Are Bipolar and Borderline Personality Disorder Related?
Although it is not yet clear-cut, research has not found a strong relationship between BPD and bipolar disorder. There is some evidence that people with BPD are diagnosed with bipolar disorder at higher rates than individuals with other personality disorders.
One study found that about 20% of people with BPD are also diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Only about 10% of people with other personality disorders also have a bipolar disorder diagnosis.
Another study looked at people diagnosed with both BPD and bipolar disorder within a 10-year timeframe. The results showed that the disorders appear to be completely independent. The study’s authors stressed that it’s extremely important to treat each disorder individually for the best chance of symptom relief.