The Development and Treatment of Personality Disorders - Treatment of Personality Disorders

Written by HealthyPlace.com Staff Writer

Page 4 of 4

David: For those in the audience, you can read more about Bipolar Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder, as well as all psychological disorders, here.

cathygo: Dr. Mihura, I have a very close friend who I know has BPD, but his Dr's will not recognize it. He uses prescription drugs, is a cutter, and he has a little boy who is being exposed to this behavior and a wife who thinks he's just a drug addict. What can I do to help him?

Dr. Mihura: That sounds like a very tough situation for you to be in. I am not sure exactly what you mean by his doctor will not recognize it. If your friend recognizes the problems, he can tell his doctor what the problems are. He will need to tell his doctor what his symptoms are, the ones you refer to as BPD. If the doctor still will not address them, then he should seek out the help of someone else. I would be sure that it is the doctor that is not recognizing them first and that your friend has talked about these problems.

It sounds like you care very much about your friend. As a note, I can only give feedback based on little information here, but I would try not to feel too much responsibility. Sometimes, one can feel very caught up in a person's life and problems when they have borderline features. Sometimes a spouse, for example, can describe these behaviors to a doctor but it is up to the patient what they want to do.

Good luck in whatever you do, and to your friend and his family.

David: I have one question. Can personality disorders be diagnosed in young children and adolescents?

Dr. Mihura: Yes, they can, although this is less common. The patterns of behavior and problems need to be problematic and enduring, however. For example, sometimes adolescents may have what look like borderline features, in problems with identity and some anger control, but it may change over time with maturation. Sometimes, as in adults too, the symptoms may be more confined to an 'Axis I' disorder, like emerging bipolar in an adolescent that looks like the anger, depression, liability of a borderline personality, but it is due to an 'episodic' disorder, not a long-lasting pattern as in a personality disorder.

David: Thank you, Dr. Mihura, for being our guest tonight and for sharing this information with us. And to those in the audience, thank you for coming and participating. I hope you found it helpful. We have a very large and active community here at HealthyPlace.com. You will always find people in the chatrooms and interacting with various sites. Also, if you found our site beneficial, I hope you'll pass our URL around to your friends, mail list buddies, and others. http://www.healthyplace.com/

Thank you again, Dr. Mihura, for coming tonight and for staying late to answer everyone's questions. You were an excellent guest and we appreciate your coming here.

Dr. Mihura: You're very welcome, David. And thank you for having me here. I enjoyed talking to the participants, and I wish all of them luck in the problems they posted, and also for those who didn't post.

David: Good night everyone and I hope you have a pleasant weekend.

Disclaimer: We are not recommending or endorsing any of the suggestions of our guest. In fact, we strongly encourage you to talk over any therapies, remedies or suggestions with your doctor BEFORE you implement them or make any changes in your treatment.

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