Causes of BPD – Identifying the Risk Factors

hi my name is dr fox licensed psychologist and state of texas and in this video we're going to talk about explaining bpd and what causes it so how do you explain a complex concept that you may not fully understand yourself that worries you confuses you and sometimes scares you and frustrates you these are common responses to bpd in yourself or seeing it in a loved one so if you've had that feeling or similar thoughts i'm going to try to help you in this video as we talk about how to explain bpd and what causes it now please like share and subscribe that's awesome and let's get into it over the years of doing this youtube channel i've had a lot of people write me and say you know how do i explain to a partner what bpd is when i don't when i don't even understand it how do i explain to my partner to my parent you know even to myself what this thing called bpd borderline personality disorder is well if you're watching this video you want to know how to better understand and how to explain it for yourself or how to help a loved one understand what you believe they're going through now the father of bpd his name is john gunderson and he is he has since passed away and he explained bpd best with insight clarity and compassion so i'm going to read some statements from his book it's it's a clinician's guide for borderline personality disorder it came out 2008 and what i really like about this is that i think that it is succinct as succinct as you can be but i think that it also communicates not only with the issue of someone with bpd of what they're going through and what they're experiencing but also it relays this sense of compassion it relays the sense of confusion and i think that it gives a greater sense of that it's not a willful reaction it's not like folks are sitting there saying hmm how can i really destroy your life today i think that there is a misconception of of of volitionality of this direct and clear intent to destroy someone else to destroy their life things like that and i'm not saying there aren't people out there who who do that there certainly are that falls more into the anti-social personality category than it does your bpd category and sometimes then regretfully that those are confused and i mean i'd be happy to do a video on that if you're interested but let's get into so john gunderson so this is a quote right from from that book what i'm going to do is as i read it i'll have it kind of scroll up on the page so so you can see it as well and hopefully that this helps you so i'm going to read directly what he wrote and he wrote people with bpd are born with a genetic disposition to be emotional have low frustration tolerance and be very sensitive to signs of rejection they have grown up feeling that they were unfairly treated and they did not get the attention or care they needed they are angry about that and as young adults they set out in search of someone who can make up to them for what they feel is missing when they think that they have found such a person they set in motion intense exclusive relationships which predictably will fail because they place unrealistic expectations on the other person upon failing they feel rejected or abandoned and either their rage about being treated unfairly gets reawakened or they feel they are bad and deserved the rejection in which case they become suicidal or self-destructive sometimes their anger about being mistreated causes others to feel guilty and sometimes their self-destructiveness evokes protective feelings in others such guilty or rescuing responses from others validate the borderline person's often unrealistically negative perceptions of mistreatment and encourages their unrealistically high expectations of having their needs met thus the cycle is apt to repeat itself now feel free to rewind that a little bit and you know listen to it a few times really kind of you know let it kind of set in about what it means what he's saying that expression i think that he eloquently really does describe what's going on now he also explains which i think is really important because a lot of folks have asked me this as well he explains in the same eloquent fashion what causes bpd and this is from from the same book so again i'll read it here and i'll have it kind of you know scroll up on the page as i read it so that you can get a sense of what i'm reading and you you can read it along with me okay the cause of bpd is not fully understood but we know it involves multiple factors like all other major psychiatric disorders bpd arises when an individual with a genetic predisposition is exposed to environmental stressors although the genetic predisposition is still being researched we believe that this involves three personality dimensions each of which has multiple genes these dimensions called phenotypes involve effective or emotional instability impulsivity and interpersonal rejection hypersensitivity the environmental stressors that lead to the diagnosis are highly variable from one individual to another however for many individuals histories of neglect or trauma during childhood are highly relevant research is beginning to tie the three personality dimensions or phenotypes to neurobiological pathways neuroimaging studies suggest that the emotional gateway within the brain the amygdala is overly active whereas the normal inhibitory system within the brain the prefrontal cortex is hypoactive although much more research needs to be done no one cause is adequate to explain the diagnosis of bpd so i don't want you to get get lost you know i know that he's talking a lot about neuroimaging he's talking a lot about the neurological factors certainly you know and all of all of those components so it's important to to remember that as well it can get really confusing so let me put these two incredible statements in a nutshell for you and what he's saying is that bpd is the combination of genetics and environment that make it hard to feel love and even harder when you feel rejected it is a constant search for connection when you don't know what the connection is it's a sense of loneliness and fear without knowing exactly where it comes from or where you're going with it the tidal wave of thoughts emotions beliefs and memories evoke self-destructive means to try and resolve or calm the tidal wave without having the necessary skills to do so over time this becomes a cyclical habit out of something we don't fully understand but it disrupts emotional behavioral interpersonal and identity aspects of your life it's complex but treatable and hope should be in the forefront as you seek and engage in treatment to outgrow all the things you once believed you couldn't please replay that over and over if someone in your life you believe has bpd traits or borderline personality disorder the full disorder please listen to what that says please get as much as you can out of that so you understand it because though those bpd it it's it is a hard life for them it is difficult but i have found over and over and over again as much as they are self-destructive they're in an awful lot of pain but once we turn down that pain and reduce those maladaptive behaviors of self-destruction they grow and develop into the most amazing people that they then embrace their talents they embrace their ideas and they give us as a society as a world amazing things whether it's in the arts or whether it's in engineering or whether it's in science or whether it's in psychology or psychiatry so i hope that this has answered some questions for you and i hope that you found this helpful i wish you all the best please be well and please like share and subscribe thanks please take care and bye

Channel: Dr. Daniel Fox

Views: 82,354

Keywords: borderline, borderline personality disorder, borderline personality disorder episode, bpd, bpd emotions, bpd symptoms, bpd treatment, daniel fox personality disorders, dr fox, dr fox personality, drfox bpd, emotional, mental health, signs of borderline personality disorder, signs of bpd, symptoms of bpd, treatment for bpd, dr. ramani borderline, what is BPD, what causes BPD, what is BPD and its cause, mental illness, medcircle bpd, suicidal behavior, bpd explained

Id: S3crDGqSmEE

Length: 9min 2sec (542 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 14 2021