The Life-World of Persons with Borderline Personality Disorder

2018 ◽  
pp. 664-681 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Stanghellini ◽  
Milena Mancini
Keyword(s):  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
The Self ◽  
The Other ◽  
Emotional Intensity ◽  
Life World ◽  
The Social ◽  
Shame And Guilt

Persons with borderline personality disorder are often described as affected by extreme emotional fluctuations. This article analyses their fundamental emotions: dysphoria and anger, despair, boredom, shame, and guilt. Our focus will be mainly on the two distinct life-world configurations that originate from dysphoria and anger: the dysphoric life-world and the life-world of anger. The first is characterized by a quasi-ineffable constellation of feelings in which Self and Others are irritatingly indefinite. In the second, the vague sense of Self and Others disappear: the Self is the victim, the Other the Offender. This emotional intensity does not allow borderline persons to distance themselves from what they feel here-and-now, thus feelings and values overlap. We call this “frustrated normativity.” Borderline persons are guided by the value of authenticity thus entering into collision with the social norms/conventions which they consider inauthentic and therefore an unwarranted challenge to their truly natural being: spontaneity.

scholarly journals Experiences of Compassion in Adults With a Diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. 003329412110006
Author(s):  
Stephanie Fagan ◽  
Suzanne Hodge ◽  
Charlotte Morris
Keyword(s):  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Adverse Impact ◽  
Empathic Understanding ◽  
Therapeutic Encounters

The study explored experiences of compassion in adults with a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) to further the development of the construct of compassion in relation to BPD. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to develop themes from the narratives of six adults with a diagnosis of BPD. Five themes emerged: Emotional Connection to Suffering, Empathic Understanding, Prioritisation of Needs, A Model of Genuine Compassion and Developing Acceptance and Worth. Participants described the role of compassion in their difficulties, including the adverse impact of experiences of incompassion upon their sense of self. The themes were integrated into a model that highlighted a process of recovery through therapeutic encounters with others in which genuine compassion was modelled. In addition, barriers to compassion and factors facilitating the development of compassion emerged from the analysis and have implications for clinical practice.

scholarly journals Values in persons with Borderline Personality Disorder: Their relevance for the therapeutic interview

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Milena Mancini ◽  
Giovanni Stanghellini
Keyword(s):  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Common Sense ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
The Other ◽  
Consensual Qualitative Research ◽  
Dynamic Psychotherapy ◽  
Social Rules ◽  
Explorative Study ◽  
Ethical Norms

This is an explorative study on values of 25 patients affected by borderline personality disorder interviewed in a clinical setting (phenomenological-dynamic psychotherapy) and re-classified following Consensual Qualitative Research. We identified three main categories of values: recognition (the importance for attention, acknowledgment, commendation and acceptance by the other), authenticity (the importance of absolute emotional fusion with the other), and immediacy (the importance of instantaneous, hic et nunc satisfaction of one’s needs/desires). Each of these values expresses a kind of ‘logic’, namely the logic of intimacy (the other’s closeness as indispensable for defining oneself and establish/reinforce one’s selfhood and identity), spontaneity (over-reliance on feelings unrestricted by social norms undermining their intensity), and instantaneity (glorification of ‘now-moments’/execration of procrastination draining the vitality of feelings). The borderline person lives an emotional normativity constituted by the intensity of feelings under the spell of a frustrated normativity since they enter into a collision with the hypocrisy of common-sense ethical norms and social rules and conventions, as well as by potential conflicts with the feelings of the other. Acknowledging the values affirmed by borderline persons may help to better understand their condition - that is, to grasp ‘what it is like’ and make sense of the phenomena that affect them – and particularly to find a logic in their otherwise irrational and incomprehensible self-defeating behavior.

scholarly journals Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy for Borderline Personality Disorder: A Single Case Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-74
Author(s):  
Giampaolo Salvatore ◽  
Lorena Bianchi ◽  
Luisa Buonocore ◽  
Nadia Disturco ◽  
Angus Macbeth ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Emotion Dysregulation ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Severe Disease ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Interpersonal Therapy ◽  
Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a severe disease, characterized by severe instabilities in identity, affect and relationships. Clinical improvement of BPD can be facilitated by psychotherapy aimed at tackling multiple specific cross-modality impairments and their patterns of interaction: impaired sense of self, maladaptive interpersonal schemas, impaired metacognition, emotion dysregulation and impulsivity. Herein, we describe the steps in the treatment of a young woman meeting the criteria for with BPD with paranoid traits, successfully treated with Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy, a treatment based on comprehensive assessment of domains. In the initial phase, treatment focused on promoting emotion regulation, integrating opposing patient representations of the therapist, enhancing metacognition, and increasing focus on the maladaptive schema that elicited dysregulated behaviors. Later in therapy, treatment focused on supporting the patient to realize her ideas about self and others were schema-driven; and improving metacognitive capacity to understand others’ minds. General implications for psychotherapy of BPD are discussed.

Having a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder in a forensic setting: a qualitative exploration

2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 228-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy Jade Lovell ◽  
Gillian Hardy
Keyword(s):  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Forensic Setting

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the lived experience of having a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) in a forensic setting. Design/methodology/approach – Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight women with a diagnosis of BPD in private secure units. The interview data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Findings – Four main themes emerged: identity, power, protection and containment, and confusion. The themes of identity, power and protection and containment represented polarised positions which in turn contributed to the theme of confusion. Research limitations/implications – There are limitations to this study mainly the heterogeneous nature of the sample. However, good quality control and the similarities with previous findings indicate that this study makes a valuable contribution to the understanding of BPD in a forensic setting. In addition it has implications for further research; exploring sense of self and the differences between a sample from a community and a sample from a forensic setting with a diagnosis of BPD. Practical implications – For practitioners to acknowledge power dynamics and to be able to formulate and address these with patients with a diagnosis of BPD. Originality/value – This is the first IPA study to ask women with a diagnosis of BPD in a forensic setting what their experience is. It is a qualitative study due to the need to genuinely explore the topic and to provide a basis for others to conduct further research.

scholarly journals Self-Regulation and Psychodynamics in Bioenergetic Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-78
Author(s):  
Jens Tasche
Keyword(s):  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Affect Regulation ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
The Self ◽  
Structural Disorders ◽  
Bioenergetic Analysis ◽  
Polish Society ◽  
Theoretical Considerations

This article presents ten theses containing theoretical considerations for a postgraduate curriculum as currently tested by the Polish Society for Bioenergetic Analysis. The bioenergetic notion of the self, of affect regulation and of mental defense are modified in order to allow for psychodynamic conflict-, structureand trauma-pathological concepts to be integrated into Bioenergetic Analysis. Among other advantages, this approach facilitates the work with structural disorders (narcissism, borderline personality disorder) in Bioenergetic Analysis.

scholarly journals The Role of Impairments in Self–Other Distinction in Borderline Personality Disorder: A Narrative Review of Recent Evidence

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Celine De Meulemeester ◽  
Benedicte Lowyck ◽  
Patrick Luyten
Keyword(s):  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Narrative Review ◽  
Integrative Model ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Central Feature ◽  
Self And Other

Impairments in maintaining a differentiated sense of “self” and “other” are thought to be a central feature of borderline personality disorder (BPD). However, studies directly focusing on self–other distinction (SOD) in BPD are scarce, and these findings have not yet been integrated with novel insights into the neural mechanism involved in SOD. Here, we present a narrative review of recent behavioral and neuroimaging findings focusing on impairments in SOD in BPD. Behavioral findings of SOD at the embodied level provide preliminary evidence for impairments in multisensory integration in BPD. Furthermore, both behavioral and neuroscientific data converge to suggest that SOD impairments in BPD reflect an inability to shift between self and other representations according to task demands. Research also suggests that disruptions in infant–caregiver synchrony may play a role in the development of these impairments. Based on these findings, we present a new, integrative model linking impairments in SOD to reduced neural and behavioral synchrony in BPD. The implications of these findings for future research and clinical interventions are outlined.

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