Studies show that about one in twenty individuals suffer from a Personality Disorder (Dolecki, 2011, p. 5) . It is estimated that 2 percent of the population in the United States is diagnosed with BPD, which is 50% more common than Alzheimer’s disease (Dolecki, 2011, p. 2) Borderline Personality Disorder is a cluster B personality disorder with over three million US cases a year. The original theory of BPD was that it was related to schizophrenia because of many similar symptoms (Dolecki, 2011, p. 4) However, ironically today BPD is more prevalent than Schizophrenia and Bipolar disorder .The term borderline originated because patients were believed to lie on the border between psychosis, a severe mental disorder in which thought and emotions are so impaired that contact is lost with external reality and neurosis, a functional disorder in which feelings of anxiety, obsessive thoughts, compulsive acts, and physical complaints in various degrees and patterns dominate the personality. Many psychiatrists believe that some of Sigmund Freud’s fascinating cases of “neurosis” would today be clearly diagnosed as BPD (Kreisman, 1991, p. 19) .The label of the term “Borderline” was first created by Adolph Stern in 1938. However, the term was not accepted as a psychological term until the 1980s. (Alem, 2008). For years, the term “borderline” was used as a category for patients who did not fit into more established diagnoses. Finally, in 1980, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) listed BPD as a diagnosable illness for the first time. Most mental health professionals use the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for diagnosis today (“The National Institute of Mental Health, 2013).The discovery of this illness is recent and the studies conducted have been fairly new. Researchers are continuing today to
Studies show that about one in twenty individuals suffer from a Personality Disorder (Dolecki, 2011, p. 5) . It is estimated that 2 percent of the population in the United States is diagnosed with BPD, which is 50% more common than Alzheimer’s disease (Dolecki, 2011, p. 2) Borderline Personality Disorder is a cluster B personality disorder with over three million US cases a year. The original theory of BPD was that it was related to schizophrenia because of many similar symptoms (Dolecki, 2011, p. 4) However, ironically today BPD is more prevalent than Schizophrenia and Bipolar disorder .The term borderline originated because patients were believed to lie on the border between psychosis, a severe mental disorder in which thought and emotions are so impaired that contact is lost with external reality and neurosis, a functional disorder in which feelings of anxiety, obsessive thoughts, compulsive acts, and physical complaints in various degrees and patterns dominate the personality. Many psychiatrists believe that some of Sigmund Freud’s fascinating cases of “neurosis” would today be clearly diagnosed as BPD (Kreisman, 1991, p. 19) .The label of the term “Borderline” was first created by Adolph Stern in 1938. However, the term was not accepted as a psychological term until the 1980s. (Alem, 2008). For years, the term “borderline” was used as a category for patients who did not fit into more established diagnoses. Finally, in 1980, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) listed BPD as a diagnosable illness for the first time. Most mental health professionals use the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for diagnosis today (“The National Institute of Mental Health, 2013).The discovery of this illness is recent and the studies conducted have been fairly new. Researchers are continuing today to