Confusing Truth About Depression and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)

This is a complex issue, depression in those with BPD (borderline personality disorder). Depression is seen in 83% of those with BPD.

There is significant symptoms overlap between depressive symptoms and BPD:
• Sullen presentation mimics depressive symptoms
• Suicide risk and self-harm
• Affective instability = Intense episodic dysphoria; Frequent temper outbursts, agitation, irritability mimic agitated depression
• Feelings of emptiness
• Stress-related paranoia severe dissociative symptoms mimic depression with psychotic features.

Topics discussed are:
Depression BPD but not a depressive disorder
Is BPD an affective disorder?
What about early experiences?
What about Medication?
Medication or therapy?

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:

Dr. Fox has been teaching and supervising students for over 15 years at various universities across the United States, some of which include West Virginia University, Texas A&M University, University of Houston, Sam Houston State University, and Florida State University. He is currently a staff psychologist in the federal prison system, Adjunct Assistant Professor at University of Houston, as well as maintaining a private practice that specializes in the assessment and treatment of individuals with complex psychopathology and personality disorders.

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.

Citations:

Gunderson J. Borderline personality disorder: a clinical guide. 2nd ed. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing, 2008.

Gunderson JG, Morey LC, Stout RL, et al. Major depressive disorder and borderline personality disorder revisited: longitudinal interactions. J Clin Psychiatry 2004; 65: 1049-1056.

Galione J, Zimmerman M. A comparison of depressed patients with and without borderline personality disorder: implications for interpreting studies of the validity of the bipolar spectrum. J Pers Disord 2010; 24: 763-772.

Klein DN, Schwartz JE. The relation between depressive symptoms and borderline personality disorder features over time in dysthymic disorder. J Pers Disord 2002; 16: 523-535.

Grilo CM, Stout RL, Markowitz JC, et al. Personality disorders predict relapse after remission from an episode of major depressive disorder: a 6-year prospective study. J Clin Psychiatry 2010; 71: 1629-1635.
00:00 Introduction
07:21 BPD and Depression
13:23 Early Life Experiences
14:56 Medication and Depression BPD
21:20 Therapy

[lunavalcreations]

Thank you for this. I have major depression and BPD and this really helped me understand myself more

[TSpeaks]

BPD makes me feel every emotion, every day, every hour. I’m so tired. I can’t remember a point in my life where depression hasn’t been the main anchor of my personality.

[rebeccahdz]

I feel as if I've been depressed all my life.

[Fergiefern]

BPD makes me feel so alone. People don’t understand that I struggle to socialize and hold composure everyday. Self harm haunts my mind on a daily basis. I wish everybody could understand

[daisygirl]

I agree with BPD having difficulties when it comes to expressing how they feel to someone. When someone hurts or disrespects me that makes me upset, a fear comes over me and I clam up inside, then I become bitter/angry towards that person for making me feel that way because I can not for the life of me understand why others who supposedly care about you say or do mean and nasty things to you...One of my greatest hang-ups in life is trying to understand why people hurt others without a seconds thought, it's difficult not to take such things personally.

[FemArtByMonica]

BPD is so tiring. I miss being able to have normal relationships and conversations.

[elizabethwilliams]

Psychedelics are just an exceptional mental health breakthrough. It's quite fascinating how effective they are against depression and anxiety. Saved my life.

[BelleFlower]

I started crying when you talked about how taking medication for depression only helps for a little while if you have BPD as well. So much of my life explained so quickly.

[secularargument]

Shit. ADHD/OCD here. Lots of respect to you all with BPD. Hang in there. Your mind can be your best friend as well as your worse enemy. Always remember that it’s not you, it’s the disorder. You are NOT the disorder. Much love to everyone here.

[SaminWA-mnug]

I have Major Depressive D/O, BPD and Chronic PTSD. All diagnosed. Going through therapy for it finally at the age of 60. I've lived with it all my life. It's never too late.

[AnnaBreit]

Ok...here is the issue. Doctors are so quick to diagnose depression and prescribe medication in leiu of BPD. So many of us with life long BPD (I was diagnosed at age 15, but not informed until I was 32) spent thousands of dollars and years of our lives on therapy and medications that were completely ineffective. It’s infuriating and for some, myself included, the ineffective treatment lead to increased traumatic experiences that just made the BPD worse. So much of my life has been impacted by lack of treatment of this disorder, and it’s not until I went to absolutely extreme measures at 32 in order to get help that I begin to see progress. There needs to be a push in the mental health community to stop vilifying those with BPD and begin to advocate for the accessibility of treatments so we can get better.

[Brynnium]

I enjoyed hearing a licensed professional offer an informal lecture on this. This is the kind of thing I wish more healthcare professionals would do.

[nschroeder]

Its amazing to learn about bpd. Its like someone wrote an exact play by play of my entire life. I always assumed I was just depressed and anxious. It never explained the other complexities of my mental states like having vivid imaginations of dark or hurtful things and being so dramatic and unstable.

[thenarcissistsscapegoat]

Oh ya, I get absolutely 100% despondent and suicidal in the face of an obstacle almost immediately as it goes away when that obstacle is overcome. Its a panic that I'm approaching death, that one failure will lead to another until I spiral down into oblivion. It is the sense that nobody will be there to help me so its always do or die.

[greenqueen]

my bpd has destroyed my life i hate the emotional dysregulation the most about it

[mogee]

Whoa!! When you touched on the difference between frustration and anger and how many people with BOD don’t recognize that difference, my mind was blown. I’m 43 years old and that simple statement stopped me dead in my tracks. You have such a strong understanding of the specifics of this disorder that it allows me to feel relaxed, optimistic and trusting of you and the information you’re presenting. Thank you for providing this information FOR FREE (as there are so many out there that cannot afford treatment of any kind). Good man.

[kirakinloch]

I feel like you're a very intelligent person who cares a lot about people. Thank you so much for all the help you give.

[paperchain]

Let's face it. There are lots of people who just need to let it all out And sadly very few people willing to listen to them.

[Noahsoak]

I've always wondered if a different family would've made things different.

[casperclips]

as someone who is borderline and struggling, thank you so much for these videos. seriously.