QUESTION:

Borderline Personality Disorder: How is it diagnosed and can it be diagnosed in children?

DR. HELLER'S ANSWER:

The BPD is a criteria based diagnosis. Many practitioners have their own diagnostic criteria and say things like "you have a job so you can't have the BPD," or "you aren't suicidal so you don't have the BPD." That's the same as every doctor having their own definition of diabetes or heart disease. The official criteria are available here.

The BPD starts at puberty when the limbic system goes into "hyperdrive" and the thinking parts of the brain are unable to compensate for the out of control emotions.

Studies have shown that every child diagnosed with the BPD did not have the BPD when they became adults. There are other diagnoses causing BPD like behaviors including psychotic depression, ADHD, and the generalized anxiety disorder.

next: What's the Difference Between Bipolar and the BPD? ~ back to: Borderline Personality Disorder FAQs Table of Contents.