alternate ways of treating borderline personality disorder

[hsieh]

this thread is made to discuss and debate alternate ways of treating borderline personality disorder. the point is to "think outside the box" and "stirring the pot" is also acceptable and encoraged. please respond to subject only and not the specific member who is posting the subject. for example if somebody says - i think the world is flat - please do not respond with - the reason you think the world is flat is because you're an idiot. i can't wait to read other's ideas of alternate ways to treat boderline personality disorder. let the posting begin.

[WhatNext?]

well who wouldn't be manipulative or a drama queen when one is "locked up" in a psych hosp. that's why i thought the amazon rain forest or a 3rd world country is better than "locking" somebody up. people aren't going to develop when they're "locked up". when you put somebody in a challeging enviroment but they still have their freedom - that promises the most development i believe. or culture where the pt is free but nobody is going to "react" to their disorder - that will develop them.

How is it helpful to you as a professional to think of these clients as "manipulative drama queens"?

[LydiaNN]

well how long are you going to keep bpd in traditional treatment? you can get vaccinated before you go to the tropics. what we take for granted is luxery not nesessity. they can stay however long it takes.

BPD is treatable, not curable. Your ''idea'' is totally unworkable. Who do you propose is going to pay for this treatment? Something, some crazy little inkling inside my brain, is wanting to say that um, no, HMOs might not pony up the scratch to pay for airfare and accommodations in some African hellhole, to help people not be ''drama queens''.

[Lisa CCU RN, RN]

a better question is can these "personality disorders" be prevented and how do they develop? I've dealt with someone with at least one disorder and I want to know if it's genetic.

[hsieh]

i'm not saying bpd are manipulative drama queens - that is what i read in the forums and hear at work. i'm saying anybody not just bpd would be a manipulative drama king/queen if they're locked up. who would pay for it? it's cheaper to live in other places than here - so you would save money. how do you prevent it? well how do they prevent it in other countries? they prevent it by not acknowleding it and not paying healthcare to treat it. one member talked about child abuse. child abuse is HORRIBLE but as wynona (can't spell) judd said about being raped as a teenager - i don't define myself as a victim.

[LydiaNN]

i'm not saying bpd are manipulative drama queens - that is what i read in the forums and hear at work. i'm saying anybody not just bpd would be a manipulative drama king/queen if they're locked up. who would pay for it? it's cheaper to live in other places than here - so you would save money. how do you prevent it? well how do they prevent it in other countries? they prevent it by not acknowleding it and not paying healthcare to treat it. one member talked about child abuse. child abuse is HORRIBLE but as wynona (can't spell) judd said about being raped as a teenager - i don't define myself as a victim.

WHO would save money? I've already said that I don't believe for a New York minute that Medicaid or private insurers would finance such a scheme, and surely you don't think these so-called ''drama queens'' are going to fund their own treatment? If a treatment alternative isn't workable, then it isn't viable, which is just one of many reasons this drop 'em in the jungle scheme of your's is a flat out bad idea.

[SunshineBaby]

child abuse is HORRIBLE but as wynona (can't spell) judd said about being raped as a teenager - i don't define myself as a victim.

Wow....I am shocked by the fact that you work as a psych nurse. I'm only a nursing student but my mother has been diagnosed with BPD for almost all of my life. She too was sexually as well as physically abused as a child. As someone who works in psych, you should know that simply telling someone to "get over it" or quit "defining themself as a victim" is not a solution. My mother is sick, she does and says alot of things that have been extremely hurtful over the years and have impacted my life in negative ways. However, I don't hate, dislike, or blame her. I wouldn't dream of dropping her off in Africa ( I actually can't take your suggestion seriously!) She has been on meds forever as well as ECT treatments and while there has been some improvement I imagine she will never be "normal." That doesn't mean I'm willing to give up on her. In fact, dealing with her illness has made me want to go into Psych. My first day in clinicals on the unit, I was nervous as to what I would feel, having visited my mom in mental facilites numerous times. However, I found myself more at ease than alot of other students. I offered a kind smile and listened to what the patients had to say and I found many responded and liked having me as their student nurse.

At any rate, I can only tell you never presume to know how you would deal with a situation unless you have been there yourself.

[cardiacRN2006, ADN, RN]

I wasn't abused at all as a child. But let's think about this. Wouldn't you feel like a victim if you were repeatedly beaten, abused, raped, and made to feel embarrased and shamed about it by you parent(s) over a period of years? It's tough NOT to define yourself as a victim, because they WERE victims their whold childhood life. They have no boundries as adults, since they were crossed multiple, multiple times as children. They don't know how to act 'normally' since their lives were never 'normal'.

This is pretty simple stuff. Borderliners need boundries, stability, support, unconditional love from their families, and most of all, they need to NOT feel like they are being made fun of wasting the uncaring psych nurses' time.

I'm shocked as well that the OP is working in Psych. There is a whole lotta non-therapeutic treatment going on at that hospital.

The Africa thing is a pretty desperate attempt at attention for the OP.

[warzprayer]

After having observed many patients in a psych hospital for over thirdy years, I can say it is not the place for borderline personality disorders. All the different approaches I have seen did not work. I supervised a womens ward for 8 years and only saw one sucessful borderline overcome her disorder despite all the so called therapy by highly trained professionals. First off locking someone up for long periods is counter productive. Second feeding into the sad stories of their lousey family lifes, does not help and only stirs up old hurts that are best left behind. Now brief stay in a supportive, secure, safe, home like enviroment, with peer group meetings with others who have managed to suceed in overcoming this disorder would be worth investigating. You know very few sexually abused individuals end up in jail or on psych wards, so we need to find out what is different about these people or what was different in how society reacted to their life problems and how the results could be so different. Calling them names may help release your anger at the lack of sucess in treating them, but serves no positive purpose.

[Thunderwolf, MSN, RN]

Very good discussion thus far. The last two posts by members echo my own thoughts.

[Thunderwolf, MSN, RN]

a better question is can these "personality disorders" be prevented and how do they develop? i've dealt with someone with at least one disorder and i want to know if it's genetic.

i really like this post...gets to the meat of the matter. i mentioned in the previous bpd thread (that got closed) about my take on personality disorders as developmental disorders of personality. this post here captures the essence of the point that i was trying to make there. personality and personality disorders do not happen in a vaccuum....they develop and become what they are.

[hsieh]

warzprayer says they have only seen one bpd helped by traditional therapy. so to mercyteapot - why are unsuccesfull traditional therapies paid for over and over again? why not spend money on something new - that might work? somebody talked about child abuse. if child abuse is the prob then it should be labeled child abuse syndrome - not borderline personality disorder. i think if a patient is labeled as child abuse syndrome they are going to get better help. people naturally want to help somebody suffering from child abuse syndrome. and as far as treating child abuse - remember the movie i think it was called stand by me about a principal in philadelphia who went into a bad school and told the kids you may come from a slum but i'm not going to allow you to behave like you come from one. i'm not joking about africa or the amazon. i came to this conclusion after making several friends from africa. and let me remind people again ADDRESS THE SUBJECT NOT THE MEMBER MAKING THE POST. THIS IS TO DISCUSS AND DEBATE THE SUBJECT NOT PUT EACH OTHER DOWN.

[Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN]

My best friend (RN) is highly skilled and patient in dealing with borderlines, bipolars, schitzophrenics, etc., but she can't start an IV, and can barely take VS. Once, we were out together and were verbally accosted by a person w/ serious psych issues. I freaked, but she calmed the person right down.

I am great with clinical skills, assessments, multitasking and so on, but I absolutely cannot deal with psych pts. I guess that's why my friend is such an awesome psych nurse, and I'm an awesome clinical nurse.