How Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) Can Distort Thinking Processes

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is associated with cognitive problems that often contribute to other symptoms, including relationship issues, emotional instability, and impulsive behavior. Some treatments for BPD focus on addressing these problems in thinking.

This article discusses some of the thinking problems that characterize BPD, along with treatments that can help people manage them.

Paranoid Ideation

Many people with BPD experience paranoia, erroneously believing that others want to harm them. This type of thinking typically does not happen all the time. Instead, it tends to occur when a person is experiencing stress. These paranoid thoughts are transient, usually lasting a few days or weeks.

Chronic paranoid ideation, the long-standing and unchanging delusional beliefs that others plan to harm you, may indicate a psychotic disorder, such as schizophrenia. This can be a debilitating symptom, making the person with BPD feel constantly threatened, even by friends, coworkers, and family.

People with BPD may believe that others have hostile intent toward them. They may see signs of this that reinforce this belief all around them. For example, they might believe there are hidden meanings in people's words, gestures, body language, and eye glances. Because of this, they may feel suspicious and distrustful of others.

Dichotomous Thinking

People with BPD also have a tendency to think in extremes, a phenomenon called "dichotomous" or “black-or-white” thinking. People with BPD often struggle to see the complexity in people and situations and are unable to recognize that things are often not either perfect or horrible, but are something in between.

For example, they might one day believe their partner is the most wonderful, loving person in the world. The next day, they may think their partner is evil, hateful, and contemptuous. This can harm their potential to hold lasting interpersonal relationships and how they can interact with others.

Dissociation

Another problematic pattern of thinking that occurs in BPD is dissociation. This thinking problem has less to do with the content of thoughts and what people think about, but rather the process of perception.

Dissociation is a common symptom of BPD that involves feeling “unreal,” numb, or separate from one’s own body or psychological experiences. In most cases, people with BPD don't experience this symptom all of the time. Instead, it tends to emerge during times of stress.

BPD Treatments

Historically, BPD was regarded as very challenging to treat. More recent evidence indicates that treatments can be effective and help people with the condition cope with thinking problems and other symptoms. Psychotherapy is the most commonly recommended treatment, but medications are also sometimes prescribed.

Psychotherapy

Most psychotherapies for borderline personality disorder include strategies for addressing the problems in thinking that are characteristic of BPD. Some therapies accomplish this indirectly by working on problems in relationships, as in transference-focused psychotherapy, and some try to intervene directly with thoughts and thinking patterns.

In schema-focused therapy, clients learn the origins of their ways of thinking (for example, many people with BPD come from childhood environments that may promote dichotomous thinking patterns), and work with their therapist and on their own to recognize maladaptive ways of thinking and to change those patterns.

Medications

Medications are typically prescribed to manage specific symptoms of BPD. They are often used alongside psychotherapy rather than as a stand-alone treatment.

Mood stabilizers, antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications, and antipsychotics are a few types that may be used. Specific medications that might be prescribed include:

• Abilify (aripiprazole)
• Ativan (lorazepam)
• Buspar (buspirone)
• Effexor (venlafaxine)
• Lithobid (lithium)
• Prozac (fluoxetine)
• Risperdal (risperidone)
• Zoloft (sertraline)
  

These medications can help reduce symptom severity, improve functioning, and treat co-occurring conditions. That can also play a role in decreasing the risk of suicide, which is higher in people who have BPD.

The Takeaway

People with BPD often experience distorted thinking such as paranoid ideation and dissociation.  Psychotherapy and medication can help people with BPD address negative thought patterns and develop effective coping skills.

If you suspect that you're experiencing this kind of BPD symptom, talk to your doctor. They can evaluate your symptoms and refer you to a mental health professional.