The good news is there is hope. BPD is treatable. However, it is useful to know if you fall into a subtype in order to better communicate with your mental health professional. You may not know where you fall, and you may not fall into one of those categories--that's okay. What's important is that you understand your diagnosis, in order to improve the outcome of treatment.

We're not doomed to go through life constantly ready to explode.

Many people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) have suffered from a traumatic event. As a result, their BPD symptoms are sometimes triggered by reminders of the trauma.  Triggers can result in a flare-up of BPD symptoms, ranging from a mild depression to a suicidal crisis. So how do you face them?

For many people with borderline personality disorder (BPD), depression is often a frequent, unwelcome visitor. However, it is not always easy to tell when a depressive episode is beginning. Sometimes it comes out of the blue, other times it sneaks up on the person. All we know is that once things were okay, but now they're not.

I have two nephews, Des and Landon, that I dote on considerably. During Thanksgiving, I visited Landon at his parents' house, Landon wanted to show me everything ("Fish!  Tree!   Light!") and gave me one of his toys.  When I visited Des at my parent's house, I held out my arms and he screamed--he thought I was a stranger since I'm not around him every day. Two one-year-olds.  Two different phases of development. So what does this have to do with borderline personality disorder (BPD)? Just as two one-year-olds may differ, so people with BPD may differ. There is no one way to have BPD.

One of the problems with borderline personality disorder (BPD) is the ease with which we believe harmful core beliefs. It's as if we think that they are the insight of the century.  But believing something does not automatically make it true--not everything you think is trustworthy. Here are six steps to changing a harmful core belief.

One of the symptoms of BPD is "transient, stress-related paranoid ideation or severe dissociative symptoms". That's a fancy way of saying that when a person with BPD is under a great deal of stress, he or she can dissociate. He or she experiences an "altered state of consciousness characterized by partial or complete disruption of the normal integration of a person’s normal conscious or psychological functioning", as Wikipedia puts it. Translation: detachment or distancing from reality.

"The first step to taking control of your anger is to tell yourself, and keep telling yourself, I'm okay," writes Matsakis. "All that's happening to me is that I'm feeling angry. All I have to do with my nager today is feel it. I can figure out later what to do about it. All I have to do now is ride with it. If I can just feel the anger without hurting myself or someone else, I am a success."

You may feel you have to compromise your deepest held beliefs in order to feel accepted. It is important to remember that if you aren't accepted as you are, you aren't really accepted. If you can't be yourself, you aren't really loved. Is that worth the cost? Is sacrificing your identity for people who want you to be someone else worth it?

I am a devout Mennonite. On Sunday, we sang the hymn Will You Come and Follow Me? A line stood out to me--"Will you love the 'you' you hide if I but call your name?" It reminded me that in order for borderline personality disorder (BPD) treatment to be effective, we have to do just that--we with borderline need self-acceptance to heal.