Borderline personality disorder

[wish_me_luck]

Hey, I want to be a public health nurse. I am great at prevention and promoting healthy lifestyles, med surg type stuff, but I am not that great at psych. So, I am trying to really go through and learn about the psych illnesses more than what I learned in class (I don't feel like my instructor was effective at all). I am having an okay time learning most of them. But, personality disorders baffled me; especially, borderline.

I don't understand it. What are they like? I have read they are manipulative, but I don't understand what kind of stuff they do that is manipulative. I understand the black and white stuff like a person is all good or all bad. Are they cheery people or are they depressed? Do they really lie a lot; have you ever met an honest one? Does that mean I should take what they tell me as being true? Have all of them been abused or are some of them just like that without abuse? Are they able to hold down jobs and what kind of services would I need to refer them to (I know it's on a case by case basis but generally what kind of advocacy/ case management do they need?) How does this differ from Bipolar?

Any info is appreciated. I had considered joining a psych organization along with the couple other ones I have selected to join just so I can get info and journal articles about psych illnesses, homelessness, etc. in order to learn about and advocate for my future patients. Like I said, I understand med surg slightly better but I am not close minded or think psych patients are crazy or anything.

[Topaz7]

Borderlines- attempt to split staff, highly attention seeking, manipulate people into getting what they want I think because that is how they have learned to survive and get their needs met in the world, have a hard time regulating their emotions. Basically everything everyone already said. However I will add the comment that you should be careful in not believing a borderline. I learned early on that sometimes even the most psychotic patient may be telling you something that actually happened to them, just like when some of the stories you hear seem like they might not possibly be true they actually might be, even if they sound crazy. We tend to approach borderlines with strict boundaries, hold them to the rules of the units, do not allow them to split staff. It might sound mean (that's what I first thought when I saw staff approaching BPD's like that) but I've found that they actually respond pretty well to it and if they are mean to you they 9/10 times will come apologize later. You can't take anything in this business personal. Remember through all their attempts at getting attention, all the things people dislike about the patient that makes them borderline, they are sick. Keep compassion and sympathy in your heart and forgive.

[pinkiepie_RN]

Just remember, BPD is an illness just like the other PDs. It can be treated with therapy and your patients might be in therapy. Don't judge the patient by the label automatically.