Disorders of the Mind

BPD and concepts of homotypic and heterotypic continuity According to Sharp et al. (2007) a juvenile diagnosis of BPD is highly discouraged, thus making it difficult to study the continuity of symptoms across the lifespan. Studying BPD through a lens of heterotypic and homotypic continuity can shed light on how the disorder develops and persists over time, however, due to strong recommendations against diagnosing adolescents with BPD, these studies are scarce (Sharp et al., 2007).  Personality psychologists have attempted to determine stability versus change in development of personality over time. The use of the construct of continuity can assist with expanding the knowledge of how pathology develops and changes (Speranza et al., 2023; Sharp et al., 2007). The construct of continuity refers to the "consistency, similarity and predictability of behavior or internal states across different developmental stages" and in this case refers to psychological structures, traits and/or...

Migration status and implications on personality Clinicians today are expected to assess personality disorders in an increasingly diverse population. In fact, the term culturally masked personality disorder was coined to describe when cultural differences are overused or misused to show a pattern of behavior that may affect relationships, be stressful or harmful to the individual, and be out of the range of norm for the society in which they currently reside (Najjarkakhaki & Ghane, 2023). Therefore, migrants and ethnic minorities are at risk of being under and over-diagnosed with various personality disorders, specifically borderline personality disorder. Being culturally informed guides clinicians to more appropriate assessments of personality pathology (Najjarkakhaki & Ghane, 2023).  Migration processes can resemble personality pathology as it may exacerbate vulnerabilities and aggravate pathology that may pre-exist (Najjarkakhaki & Ghane, 2023). Stressors of migrati...

Cognitive perspective on borderline personality disorder Structure George Kelly viewed the primary unit in the structure of personality as the personal construct (Cervone & Pervin, 2023). Kelly posited that a construct is an element of knowledge that allows for the recognition of patterns in events and is formed by a person recognizing two similarities and one difference, the similarity pole and the contrast pole (Cervone & Pervin, 2023). Kelly posited that people in opposition with one another could benefit from exploring commonalities in constructs, as this could help them reach common ground (Cervone & Pervin, 2023).  Process Kelly believed individuals psychological processes are influenced by the way they anticipate events (Cervone & Pervin, 2023). This anticipation of the future lies in how an individual's own constructs are built.  Growth and development Kelly did not delve into the area of growth and development; however, developmental resear...

Behaviorist perspective on borderline personality disorder Structure B.F. Skinner viewed the primary unit in the structure of personality as the response (Cervone & Pervin, 2023). Skinner posited that responses could range from simple to complex and are external, observable behavior (Cervone & Pervin, 2023). According to Skinner, responses emitted by the organism are operants and can be changed through operant conditioning (Cervone & Pervin, 2023). Process Skinner postulated that responses are formed by operant conditioning and are a result of reinforcements (Cervone & Pervin, 2023). Skinner explained that through reinforcements, something that happens after a response that increases or decreases the likelihood of the response happening again, or not, can be provided intermittently or on fixed schedules and can shape behavior, or responses (Cervone & Pervin, 2023). That said, responses given by those diagnosed with BPD, should be able to be altered through s...

      Gordon  Allport (1937), known as the father of personality psychology, provided one of the first definitions of temperament:      Temperament refers to the characteristic phenomena of an individual's emotional nature, including his      susceptibility to emotional stimulation, his customary strength and speed of response, the quality of         his prevailing mood, and all peculiarities of fluctuation and intensity of his mood (p. 34).  Overall, literature on temperament has argued that a fundamental component of temperament is emotional and self-regulation, and consistencies in behavior that begin early in life and have a neurological basis (Zanarini, 2005).      Individuals diagnosed with BPD, researchers found, can be explained by reactivity (high sensitivity) and activity (high dynamism), with reactivity as the underpinning of all borderline facets, while activity differentiates...

The Five-Factor Model (FFM) is a questionnaire that divides personality into five traits or categories: open-mindedness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness and neuroticism (negative emotionality) (Cervone & Pervin, 2023; Trull & Brown, 2013; Amini et al., 2014). FFM has been found to be a strong predictor of a BPD diagnosis in a multitude of research studies (Trull & Brown, 2013). That is, researchers predicted higher scores in neuroticism, extroversion and open-mindedness and low scores in agreeableness and conscientiousness for those with a BPD diagnosis (Trull & Brown, 2013). Several researchers have conducted studies which have shown such results (Trull & Brown, 2013). Furthermore, studies which have examined BPD traits as they relate to the FFM, have shown a positive relationship between negative emotionality (neuroticism) and impulsivity, separation insecurity and depression and a significant relationship between open-mindedness and emotional liabi...

            "The construct of BPD emerged from the observation of patients who seemed on the                          surface   to be compos mentis (who were not psychotic and could converse in socially                          competent ways) but who appeared on closer examination to have in some sense, only a                'mask of sanity'" (Bradley & Westen, 2005, p. 928).      Due to the tendency of those diagnosed with BPD to focus on the negative aspects of relationships and move in ways in which to avoid their fears of rejection, abandonment and victimization, positive psychology as a phenomenological perspective to treatment fits well (Bradley & Westen, 2005;  SeyedEbrahimi, 2022).   Bradley & Westen (2005) ...

      Those with a diagnosis of BPD typically struggle with maintaining constant representations of others and themselves in regard to mental states and intentions, they also tend to fear rejection, mistreatment and abandonment in relationships and have difficulty forming and maintaining relationships in general (Bradley & Westen, 2005). Furthermore, these individuals often attribute false representations of the motivations and intentions of those around them (Bradley & Westen, 2005). Those diagnosed with BPD tend to have difficulties with integrating good and bad characteristics of themselves and others and keep separate memories of positive and negative memories and attributes (Bradley & Westen, 2005).         Any dynamic psychoanalytic approach to treatment for those with a diagnosis of BPD include these goals: to identify and alter negative relationship paradigms and emotional regulation patterns and to increase the complexity and...