How to Seek Therapy for Borderline Personality Disorder

Borderline personality disorder is thought to be caused by growing up in an environment in which a person's feelings and ideas are routinely dismissed as unimportant or wrong. Sufferers feel as if they are always in danger of being abandoned by friends and family. At the same time, they feel that the only way to have their emotions recognized is by resorting to extreme emotional outbursts. Here is how to seek treatment for this disorder.

Instructions

• 1

  Try mentalization therapy. This method helps you imagine what other people are thinking and differentiate it from your misconceptions about their motivations. If you suffer from borderline personality disorder, you probably haven't learned to mentalize, but you can improve with practice.

• 2

  Find a therapist familiar with dialectical behavioral therapy. You have probably grown up in an environment in which your feelings and ideas were not validated, and have become convinced that you can't handle your own life. Your therapist will help you change your thinking by showing you the opposite way of thinking and helping you find a middle point.

• 3

  Ask for medication to help you manage some of the behaviors that result from your disorder. For instance, when you become depressed, anti-depressants can help you feel better, allowing you to continue to manage your life. You can also ask to try lamotrigine, a mood stabilizer, to help you control your anger outbursts.

• 4

  Join a support group, where you will meet others with borderline personality disorder and learn how they have helped themselves. You can ask for suggestions on particular concerns and receive the support you need to cope with your fear of abandonment.