Post by robyn on Jan 25, 2016 4:01:05 GMT
scarlettecigarette asked:
Do you know of any medications and/or therapy that really helps with BPD? I know there are no Meds that help BPD as a whole, but ones that help the symptoms. And any therapy besides DBT, I've been to a DBT hospital 8 times and a DBT group home for 4 months. Thanks.
Answer: Hi there,
I’m going to answer the second part of your question first because I have concrete answers for it.
There are lots of other types of therapy out there for BPD other than DBT though DBT statistically has been shown to work the best. These other options include:
Mentalization-based Therapy (MBT) (and here’s another link comparing MBT and DBT
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Long-term Psychodynamic psychotherapy (unfortunately I don’t have a link for this, but it has good statistics for working on borderline patients according to my current psychiatrist. It can also be administered by psychiatrists not just psychologists, which means if you’re Canadian, if would be a form of free therapy. The therapy is based around working through the elements of your past that are holding you back unconsciously, from my understanding, though I’m wary of this type of therapy because some therapists who use it draw upon Freud and we mods at SBD have a remarkably poor opinion of Freud and his “contributions” to psychology.)
(There are many many others but these are the ones I have heard the most recommendations for (other than DBT) when it comes to treating BPD, so there might be a type of therapy that would work for you that I haven’t listed here.)
Also followers are welcome to bring up what kind of therapy they’re in and how well (or not well) it’s helping them.
As for medication, unfortunately there isn’t any medication that can treat all of BPD. What medication can do, however, is treat some specific symptoms. Like, say you have BPD with psychotic features. Your doctor could prescribe you with an anti-psychotic (like olanzapine or loxapine as a “rescue medication” or something like abilify or risperidone as a “daily” medication) to treat your psychosis.
If your BPD is comorbid with something, such as Bipolar disorder, your doctor may put you on a mood stabilizer (like epival) to address your Bipolar and let your BPD be treated by therapy. Similarly, if you’re BPD is comorbid with depression or if you just experience a lot of depression as part of your BPD, you could be prescribed an anti-depressant (likely an SSRI like celexa, for example, which is what I’m on) to help deal with the general depression and sometimes anxiety as well.
Many people with BPD struggle with intense anxiety, so it’s possible to be prescribed anti-anxiety medication (like ativan or clonazepam but there are many types of medications that can address anxiety). Sedatives can also sometimes help with anger, but because these medications tend to be addictive, doctors usually don’t like to use them too much on borderline patients.
If your BPD is causing you to have trouble concentrating during periods of emptiness or dissociation, your doctor might prescribe you a stimulant (like adderall) to help you concentrate.
But generally, medications are not recommended by physicians to be used to treat Borderline Personality Disorder. Personally, I’ve been prescribed over 20 psychiatric medications since my diagnosis and not a single one has done anything significant to lessen my BPD symptoms (with the exception of psychosis). What works for one person may not work at all for another becuaes your own body chemistry plays a major part in how medications work.
Medications just aren’t very effective and doctors should really only be prescribing medication if there’s a comorbid disorder that can be addressed with medication so that you can have the chance to focus solely on the BPD while in therapy. Therapy is the best way to go about treating BPD but unfortunately, therapy is not always accessible.
I hope this helps a bit,
-Pandora
Do you know of any medications and/or therapy that really helps with BPD? I know there are no Meds that help BPD as a whole, but ones that help the symptoms. And any therapy besides DBT, I've been to a DBT hospital 8 times and a DBT group home for 4 months. Thanks.
Answer: Hi there,
I’m going to answer the second part of your question first because I have concrete answers for it.
There are lots of other types of therapy out there for BPD other than DBT though DBT statistically has been shown to work the best. These other options include:
Mentalization-based Therapy (MBT) (and here’s another link comparing MBT and DBT
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Long-term Psychodynamic psychotherapy (unfortunately I don’t have a link for this, but it has good statistics for working on borderline patients according to my current psychiatrist. It can also be administered by psychiatrists not just psychologists, which means if you’re Canadian, if would be a form of free therapy. The therapy is based around working through the elements of your past that are holding you back unconsciously, from my understanding, though I’m wary of this type of therapy because some therapists who use it draw upon Freud and we mods at SBD have a remarkably poor opinion of Freud and his “contributions” to psychology.)
(There are many many others but these are the ones I have heard the most recommendations for (other than DBT) when it comes to treating BPD, so there might be a type of therapy that would work for you that I haven’t listed here.)
Also followers are welcome to bring up what kind of therapy they’re in and how well (or not well) it’s helping them.
As for medication, unfortunately there isn’t any medication that can treat all of BPD. What medication can do, however, is treat some specific symptoms. Like, say you have BPD with psychotic features. Your doctor could prescribe you with an anti-psychotic (like olanzapine or loxapine as a “rescue medication” or something like abilify or risperidone as a “daily” medication) to treat your psychosis.
If your BPD is comorbid with something, such as Bipolar disorder, your doctor may put you on a mood stabilizer (like epival) to address your Bipolar and let your BPD be treated by therapy. Similarly, if you’re BPD is comorbid with depression or if you just experience a lot of depression as part of your BPD, you could be prescribed an anti-depressant (likely an SSRI like celexa, for example, which is what I’m on) to help deal with the general depression and sometimes anxiety as well.
Many people with BPD struggle with intense anxiety, so it’s possible to be prescribed anti-anxiety medication (like ativan or clonazepam but there are many types of medications that can address anxiety). Sedatives can also sometimes help with anger, but because these medications tend to be addictive, doctors usually don’t like to use them too much on borderline patients.
If your BPD is causing you to have trouble concentrating during periods of emptiness or dissociation, your doctor might prescribe you a stimulant (like adderall) to help you concentrate.
But generally, medications are not recommended by physicians to be used to treat Borderline Personality Disorder. Personally, I’ve been prescribed over 20 psychiatric medications since my diagnosis and not a single one has done anything significant to lessen my BPD symptoms (with the exception of psychosis). What works for one person may not work at all for another becuaes your own body chemistry plays a major part in how medications work.
Medications just aren’t very effective and doctors should really only be prescribing medication if there’s a comorbid disorder that can be addressed with medication so that you can have the chance to focus solely on the BPD while in therapy. Therapy is the best way to go about treating BPD but unfortunately, therapy is not always accessible.
I hope this helps a bit,
-Pandora