Borderline Personality Disorder
(BPD) is a serious and
often life-threatening
disorder that is
characterized by severe
emotional pain and
difficulties managing
emotions. The problems
associated with BPD
include impulsivity
(including suicidality
and self-harm), severe
negative emotion such as
anger and/or shame,
chaotic relationships,
an extreme fear of
abandonment, and
accompanying
difficulties maintaining
a stable and accepting
sense of self. Thus, BPD
is characterized by
pervasive instability of
mood, interpersonal
relationships,
self-image, and actions,
often negatively
affecting loved ones,
family and work life,
long-term planning, and
the individual's sense
of self-identity.
the national
education alliance for borderline personality disorder
Formed in 2001,
the National Education
Alliance for Borderline
Personality Disorder
(NEA-BPD), is a
non-profit organization
staffed by volunteering
consumers, family
members, and
professionals. NEA-BPD
seeks to "Advance the
BPD Agenda" by raising
public awareness of BPD,
providing education, and
promoting research about
borderline personality
disorder through a
variety of programs. For
example, with partial
funding from a grant
from the National
Institute of Mental
Health (NIMH), NEA-BPD
has hosted over 30
conferences worldwide,
featuring
internationally
recognized BPD
researchers and
scientists. All NEA-BPD
conferences encourage
attendance by
professionals, family
members and consumers
alike.
Do You Have A Relative With
Borderline Personality Disorder?
The National Education Alliance for
Borderline Personality Disorder (NEABPD), in collaboration with Dawkins
Productions, Inc. of Hastings on Hudson NY, is seeking family members
over the age of 18 who have a relative with Borderline Personality
Disorder (BPD) to participate in a research study.
The purpose of the study is to test the effect of educational video
programs about mental illness on families who have a relative with BPD.
The participants will be asked to view a series of videos and to
complete a set of questionnaires about their experiences with BPD and
their knowledge of BPD. The videos will be viewed and the surveys filled
out on a secure website on the internet, and it will take approximately
3 hours to complete.
All responses will be kept confidential and participants will not be
identified by name.
Psychol Med. 2010 Jul 1:1-12. [Epub ahead of print] Life events and borderline personality
features: the influence of gene-environment interaction and gene-environment
correlation.
Distel MA, Middeldorp CM, Trull TJ, Derom CA, Willemsen G, Boomsma DI.
Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, The
Netherlands. Abstract BACKGROUND: Traumatic life events are
generally more common in patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD)
than in non-patients or patients with other personality disorders. This
study investigates whether exposure to life events moderates the genetic
architecture of BPD features. As the presence of genotype-environment
correlation (rGE) can lead to spurious findings of genotype-environment
interaction (GxE), we also test whether BPD features increase the likelihood
of exposure to life events. Method The extent to which an individual
is at risk to develop BPD was assessed with the Personality Assessment
Inventory - Borderline features scale (PAI-BOR). Life events under study
were a divorce/break-up, traffic accident, violent assault, sexual assault,
robbery and job loss. Data were available for 5083 twins and 1285 non-twin
siblings. Gene-environment interaction and correlation were assessed by
using structural equation modelling (SEM) and the co-twin control design.
RESULTS: There was evidence for both
gene-environment interaction and correlation. Additive genetic influences on
BPD features interacted with the exposure to sexual assault, with genetic
variance being lower in exposed individuals. In individuals who had
experienced a divorce/break-up, violent assault, sexual assault or job loss,
environmental variance for BPD features was higher, leading to a lower
heritability of BPD features in exposed individuals. Gene-environment
correlation was present for some life events. The genes that influence BPD
features thus also increased the likelihood of being exposed to certain life
events. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this
study is the first to test the joint effect of genetic and environmental
influences and the exposure to life events --
The most comprehensive borderline personality disorder resource library found anywhere.
Includes over 100 audio & video files of conference presentations by BPD researchers as well as pdf files of slide presentations and research articles.
Current
information
-
internationally
respected
experts
on
borderline
personality
disorder.
• NEA-BPD is conducting a survey on the availability of treatment for persons
with borderline personality disorder. Please take ten minutes to answer our survey
questions.
• Share your story in a
BPD research survey exploring the impact of borderline personality disorder on the entire family.
•View the video and pictures of the first NEA-BPD's first
"Meet and Greet" the borderline experts that
included Drs. Marsha Linehan, Herb Pardes and
Blaise Aguirre.
