Is IT Generalized Anxiety Disorder or Borderline Personality Disorder with Dr. Fox

Please watch: "How You Can Control Your Emotions with Dr. Fox - Affective Regulation"

In this video I help you determine if your free floating or generalized anxiety is associated with borderline personality disorder or if it's generalized disorder, or both - yes they can co-occur.

Generalized anxiety is associated with:

Excessive anxiety and worry (apprehensive expectation), occurring more days than not for at least 6 months, about a number of events or activities (such as work or school performance).

The individual finds it difficult to control the worry.

The anxiety and worry are associated with the following symptoms that have been present for more days than not for the past 6 months.

1. Restlessness or feeling keyed up or on edge.
2. Being easily fatigued.
3. Difficulty concentrating or mind going blank.
4. Irritability.
5. Muscle tension.
6. Sleep disturbance (difficulty falling or staying asleep, or restless, unsatisfying sleep).

The anxiety, worry, or physical symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

Daniel J. Fox, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist in Texas, international speaker, and award winning author. He has been specializing in the treatment and assessment of individuals with personality disorders for over 15 years in the state and federal prison system, universities, and in private practice. His specialty areas include personality disorders, ethics, burnout prevention, and emotional intelligence.

He has published several articles in these areas and is the author of:

Thank you for your attention and I hope you enjoy my videos and find them helpful and subscribe. I always welcome topic suggestions and comments.

Citation:
Harned, M. S., & Valenstein, H. R. (2013). Treatment of borderline personality disorder and co-occurring anxiety disorders. F1000prime reports, 5, 15.

[samanthanemeth]

Please make the video about sleep. I'd love to hear about that!

[delaney]

It would be nice if was easy to find a therapist that had this knowledge.

[soleildemidi]

Your videos are so helpful. I've never seen or read a comparative breakdown about GAD BPD. I'd love a BPD sleep video. Thank you Dr Fox.

[self-improvement]

Can you do a video on 'how to relax'? As someone suffering from BPD, I have no idea what it means to relax.

[godisnotinvisible]

Rarrely speechless.... thank you so much for making compassionate, nuanced, and well-informed videos on B/EUPD

[FruityFarterSG]

You speak so softly and with compassion that sometimes I fall asleep while listening to your videos like I know there's someone who cares and understands

[ArtsiRosi]

I love your videos. I am 44 and was dx'd with BPD only 2 years ago. That muscle tension has been happening to me for so many years that, now that you mention that tension, I think it helped develop my fibromyalgia. Please continue doing videos. They have become a key part of my learning about BPD, along with intense DBT. I learn a lot from you and I appreciate you sharing your knowledge here for free.

[Prudenthermit]

😂😂 Hearing you mention sleep made me laugh out loud after staying up all night- definitely struggle with suicidal ideation/dysregulation first thing after waking up & avoid the distress by putting off sleep as long as possible. Hearing some tips on sleep would be wonderful.
Thank you very much for creating these very informative clips.

[vnusnfurs]

You're amazing Dr fox you have helped me a lot, a lot more than my last therapist did, I appreciate that

[rebeccajimenez]

Yes, please do a sleep/insomnia video. I'm sure we would all like it as well. I appreciate every video! Thank you Dr fox💜

[donnaryan]

Daily meditation is a necessity for me. I have found the best way is to reach for the kind, inner parent voice (which was harder to get in touch with when I was younger, admittedly) and do progressive relaxation or just use a soothing voice and tell myself to let go, it's ok to let go, and then when my body and mind are relaxed enough I allow that kind parental voice to say, "you're safe" over and over. I do it for about 20-30 minutes. When I do this daily, my baseline daily anxiety goes down - not so reactive, and I'm able to call up the soothing parent voice, "you're safe" if I feel myself starting to overreact. Saying, "I"m safe" doesn't work for me, it needs to be in the third person. This 'voice' is not the voice of either of my parents (heaven forbid), it's my own internal caretaker. It takes practice to access it, but once you do, it's always there, always the strong, gentle, secure voice we needed as children. This is the main way I manage anxiety. I've still got it, but the volume is turned down because of my daily practice. Your videos are the best I've seen on this issue, thank you.

[kellykelly]

OMG! Thank you for this information. I have suffered all my life and have struggled finding or actually being able to afford therapy. I am now 59 yrs old and am on permanent disability for major depression, BPD, and social anxiety disorder. Your video's are helping to clarify some things for me. Shame and humiliation are big factors for me, but most of my reactions to things are unidentified...difficult for me to find words. Lol. People always want to know why and I have such difficulty explaining. Anyway. Thank you for putting out your video's. I plan on watching them...probably many times over.

[eleanorhartshorn]

I would be very interested in the video about sleep. My personal experience is I get a lot of very disturbing nightmares or night terrors and most nights I wake up multiple times, either in tears or panicking. (On a side note, I keep a dream journal and have noticed that nearly all my bad dreams are related to being abandoned, being alone, being empty, hurting and wanting help but being invisible or not being deserving of it.) I've never heard that poor sleep was common with BPD before so I'd be super interested to hear about it from a different perspective.

[ennvee]

I have had to put all of these pieces together in the past in order for me to understand what my mate was going through and help me understand what I needed to do in order to cope, (ie. Bad Dreams, Taking meds in order to sleep) etc. I do have ADHD, she demonstrates the BPD symptoms. and I must say that it is all coming together now . Thanks again Dr. Fox👍🏽💐❤️🌈🙏🏼✅

[smilingmindpositivity]

You are the most insightful Psychologist I have ever listened to. Your knowledge and understanding of BPD is excellent. Thank You Dr Fox 👍🏻

[attheranch]

Yes, I want to hear more from you on sleep related to BPD 👍👍👍👌

[vickiesdaughter]

Thank you! I was trying to figure out if it was my GAD or BPD. Glad to know now its GAD. It's so hard to pull out of that mindset.

[wematter]

After my menopause, anxiety hit me hard, I remember I have been coping well with stress before menopause, now I wake up anxious with no reason at all .

[aqua]

I loved your video about depression in BPD individuals. Watched it right before an appointment with a new psychiatrist. I relate to most of what you've described here. I've been diagnosed with both, along with other mental disorders (yay...). My biggest concern are the nocturnal panic attacks. I wake up multiple times in a night (every 30 minutes sometimes) to a slowing heartbeat that convinces you that you'll die. It makes your chest feel cold. Every doctor I've told this to does not take me seriously and they don't really know what to say. The only thing that prevents them is an anxiety med, but even on one I still get them sometimes. I've typed too much for youtube.

[toristoddard]

you are such a sweet and understanding man. i am a daughter of two parents with BPD. you are helping me so much thank you very much for caring about this subject and sharing all your insight. you have no idea how much you have helped me clear a lot up about my childhood. i know i am at risk too.. im 23 and have some of these need to get help asap.. its been an emotional rollercoaster dealing with parents with BPD