Once again, The Good Reverend Jim attempts to explain what Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is to him and why it is significant. He asked his son Evan to be his guest to give the conversation a different perspective. This topic is important to this show because at the heart of BPD is tumultuous and very unstable relationships. This show is all about trying to improve relationships.
As far as The Good Reverend Jim is concerned, we all experience some of the aspects of Borderline Personality Disorder at various times. People that are classified as having BDP just experience the symptoms more often and to a larger degree. Medications are not used to treat BDP directly. The primary treatment is Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). DBT teaches people how to deal with overwhelming emotions.
Understanding Borderline Personality Disorder and Dialectical Behavior Therapy is not only important to the person with BPD. It is very important that the loved ones of BPD also understand it and the techniques that DBT suggest for dealing with it. For example, a person with BPD tends to easily get upset. They need to learn DBT to try to regulate their emotions so that they don’t get so upset. However, when they get upset, they would probably lash out at a loved one. Now the loved one is thrown on the defensive too. The loved one needs to apply the same DBT skill to keep the conflict from escalating.
This all can be applied to everyone. We all have high stress moments where we may lash out at others. We all need to work to keep ourselves under control. Likewise, we also need to deal with people that lash out at us. An understanding of Borderline Personality Disorder and Dialectical Behavior can help.
