QUESTION:

Dr. Heller, have there been any studies involving parents (especially mothers) of bpd's? I am the mother of a 30 year old daughter with BPD and I can tell you that I have been telling stories for years of how different she is from my other three children. I first began to notice these differences about the time she began to crawl, or even before. I didn't see anything "bad", just a very spunky and headstrong attitude. I really thought it was cute. by the time she was an adolescent, however, it was not so "cute". I really believe that the medical community might benefit from a study of early childhood observations by parents whose children eventually are diagnosed with BPD---if it has not already been done.

DR. HELLER'S ANSWER:

There's no doubt in my mind that the more difficult the child, the higher the risk of BPD once adolescence begins. Untreated attention deficit disorder is a common cause. The limited studies I've read only show over-reacting to minor stresses as a common risk factor.

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