I know there is DBT treatment for BPD and meds for some of the symptoms.

But do you personally know a BPD that has significantly improved in their ability to interact with others?

[Skeezyks]

Hello ValentinaVVV: I don't really have an answer to your question. (I don't know anyone. So I couldn't know anyone who has BPD who has significantly improved in their ability to interact with others.) But I do recall being told, by my last therapist, that BPD tends to burn itself out as one gets older. So, if this is in fact the case, if one continues on in treatment long enough, improvement is bound to occur, I guess. Whether or not it is due to the treatment, or simply the aging process is another question.

[here today]

Originally Posted by ValentinaVVV

I know there is DBT treatment for BPD and meds for some of the symptoms.

But do you personally know a BPD that has significantly improved in their ability to interact with others?

You've probably already seen it, but there is someone called "bpdtransformation" who has posted in the BPD forum about their recovery. Also some impressive statistics about recovery posted in a thread by Crosstobear.

As the good news gets out and the stigma decreases I hope that we'll see more personal stories from people and their partners/family members. I know that kind of story is more helpful and convincing to lots of people.

They need to the work. And I know it is hard work.

But,that is the bottom line.

[llleeelllaaannneee]

Are they getting better or are the people that choose to be in relationships with just learning the skills to better cope with them?

I stopped reading about coping with people with borderline and decided I just want out because everything I read said I had to never react to their outbursts, not respond to abusive behavior and constantly reassure them I wasn't abandoning them. Seriously, other than saying not to accept abuse every resource that doesn't say "run away, run away!!!" tells me to act like their personal therapist/parent.

Presently, I firmly believe they do NOT get better. I believe the ones that seem better were never actually clinically bpd or they've found doormats that have drunk the kool aide that all the new bpd for family and friends literature is.

Maybe some people aren't as wild as they used to be, some get sober but "better"? I don't believe it. I do think people can have bpd traits that they get better from and no longer have which is why teens should never get the diagnosis but adults that are diagnosed accurately will not get better. Accept them as is or RUN.

I'll always be confused as to why someone labeled abusive is any different from someone with the bpd. The only difference I've found is that women are predominantly diagnosed bpd. I think their male counterparts are often jailed for assault and domestic violence.

[Trippin2.0]

I'm getting better.


And I'll keep working at it.

[Travelinglady]

I was diagnosed with high-functioning BPD. After years of therapy and two DBT experiences with different therapists, I no longer have BPD. Takes a lot of work, insight, working through anger, etc.

Hugs and no offense to anyone working on it.
It does not sound like a fun diagnosis for sufferers or those involved with them.

I do not know of any of who get better. In fact, they have seemed to have gotten worse. I know several people with the disorder. I think that they are probably frustrated and have had more failed relationships and that is why it has intensified.

[Trippin2.0]

Funny you should say that Valentina, a failed relationship is what actually motivated me to get help, and lucky for me, we got back together and my bf doesn't hold our past against me because he knows I am working my butt off and he has noticed the positive changes.

He's very supportive of my journey to better mental health, neither of us have any illusions about me being cured, but more effective management is good enough.

FTR, he is not my punching bag, or doormat, he doesn't walk on egg shells, but is rather my main cheerleader who doesn't hold back if and when I should need a healthy dose of a reality check.

Not all of us are monsters, some of us are deeply ashamed by the way our minds work and our subsequent actions. Some of us are deeply scarred and unable to have a clear sense of self-awareness, or have been scarred for too long that dysfunction is the norm. Better the devil you know, and all that.

Luckily, there are those of us who fight tooth and nail against the dysfunction and the pain we unwittingly inflict on our loved ones.