Carolina Tovar BorreroAlternative Extra CreditApril 15, 2013Karen Aprill had a very different approach to describing borderline personality disorder. Although it was contrary to what most other psychologist opinions are, Karen Aprill welcomed clients in that had been diagnosed as BPD. She was able to describe the disorder in a way that it didn’t seem like just symptoms on the DSM-IV, but a real hardship that some people have to deal with in their daily routines. She resonated what BPD really was like when describing how seeing road kill while driving and breaking a jar in the kitchen, both normal things people encounter, as a heartbreaking situation that disables those diagnosed with BPD. For me, hearingthese examples made the connection between a textbook description or a short movie clip connect to a real life example. Karen Aprill provided a deeper focus of how an individual with BPD functions daily and the effects of their symptoms in their life. While watching “Young Adult”, a film that follows a young lady through her life as she has to come back to her hometown after many years away, it fully depicted the intensity of being diagnosed with BPD. From what could have been a very minor incident of having your drink spilled on, it led to a much deeper meaning of being rejected by the man whom she had supposedly loved in the past. The drink being spilled on her shirt caused her to be infused with anger and then switch to sadness then back to anger. Her mood swings demonstrated the saying that individuals with BPD have hyper sensitive emotional skin. It was very easy for the main character to snap which could be described by having a low threshold for emotional reaction and reacting to it in an extreme way.Although borderline personality disorder is described as having chronic emptiness, re-occurring suicide attempts and behaviors, and affective instability, which seems like enough for an individual to handle, BPD is also very comorbid. Karen Aprill explained that clients who are already diagnosed with BPD are also 75% as likely to have a mood disorder and 74% to have an anxiety disorder, as well as highly comorbid with other disorder, yet mood and anxiety have been the most likely. Aprill described that the most important aspect of dealing with clients whohave BPD is to have hope, and instill that with your patient. There have been many recognized people who have persevered through this disorder and have accomplished great feats in their life, making borderline personality disorder very treatable. People who have borderline personality disorder are often misguided for having a bipolar disorder. A clear indication that the diagnosis of a bipolar disorder is incorrect would be if the medication for bipolar disorder was not effective. A distinction between bipolar and borderline personality disorder is that someone suffering from BPD has a weak sense of self, and also have a sense of abandonment they are trying to avoid. An initial signal that also goes along with other symptoms for BPD is being artistic. Aprill described how this could affect children as well if their parents never show up to their performances. However, there are many factors that contribute to developing borderline personality
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