Understanding Borderline Personality Disorder

ABSTRACT: The central Christian presupposition underpinning the theme of this article was that while not all the diseases are a direct consequence of sin, the fundamental source of the entire human suffering, including that of mental disorders, is rooted in man’s alienation from God. The goal of the article was to present a holistic, theologically grounded, psychologically attested and contextually relevant approach to borderline personality disorder, a particularly prevalent psychopathological disorder in South-Eastern Europe. The proposed goal was achieved by presenting the clinical picture of BPD, by listing the different perspectives on the etiology of BPD, and by identifying several ways in which this disorder could be approached and treated both psychologically and spiritually. To this end, the biological, socio-cultural, psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, and Christian theoretical approaches to understanding BPD were presented, and a description of several therapeutic approaches to the treatment of BPD was also offered. 

KEY WORDS: hypersensitivity, emotional dysregulation, maladaptive core-beliefs, fragmented sense of self, impulsive behavior, relational instability, deficient parenting