BPD and Self-mutilation

Written by Dr. Leland Heller

QUESTION:

Could you please give me your opinion of a 14 year old girl who last year mutilated her arms with a razor blade and is in the hospital today after taking anti-depressant pills and drinking alcohol because she was bored and wanted to see what it would do to her.

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The mother of this child has been divorced from the father since this child was about 3 years old and divorced again since then and now has been married to this stepfather for 5 years. This child appears to despise this stepfather. She wants to stay away from home all the time with friends and is usually allowed to do so since this makes the home life more peaceful. She was with a friend when she drank the alcohol and took the pills. The friend did the same thing. It seems that the boyfriend of the friend's mother has been molesting the friend and the mother doesn't believe her.

The father of this child is an alcoholic and cocaine user and has used in front of this child on her last visit with him a few weeks ago. The father has had hardly any contact with this child over the past 10 years except for occasional phone calls and a few visits spaced very far apart. Last week the father was supposed to get this child for a visit but he didn't show up and didn't call. This child sat on the porch until 11:00 p.m. that night waiting for him.

This child has a sister who is almost 16 years old (same father). The older girl is very beautiful and this child is a little chubby and red headed. Really a lot of difference in their looks and this seems to cause great friction and anger toward the older sister even to the point of hate, it seems.

There is a 5 year old half sister by the present stepfather and there seems to be mixed emotions by this child, sometimes love, sometimes aggravation and sometimes hate.

I understand that the actions of this child are a cry for help, but having never dealt with anything like this before I don't know where to turn for help. Do you think that this could be BPD?

DR. HELLER'S ANSWER:

In my opinion self-mutilation should ALWAYS mean the BPD unless proven otherwise - and it's very rare for the BPD to be absent. This child obviously has lots of problems, and it may be difficult to convince her she has a problem that's treatable and that life is worth living.

The most useful tool I've encountered is the front cover of my first book - Life at the Border. It shows the symptoms and that it's treatable. It can be printed directly from this website in the "books" section. The back cover shows evidence of the biological nature of the BPD. This website is designed for people like you and this child, and I hope you take advantage of it.

People with the BPD are victims, they never asked for nor caused their disease. They can also have a great life, but only if they want to pursue that goal.

next: What Can Be Done For My Self-Mutilation And Suicide Attempts? ~ back to: Borderline Personality Disorder FAQs Table of Contents