[Direction]

I've posted some of this in general...but thought I would share some of the things I'm learning in class regarding BPD and how to cope...I've been away for some time...and I see some posts that seem to question similar items...some of it may sound dry...I condensed most of the information as a reminder to myself...

BPD (Emotional Intensity Disorder) …difficulty regulation emotion which has three parts

1. Very high sensitivity to emotional stimuli
2. Very intense response to emotional stimuli
3. Slow return to emotional baseline after emotional

Emotional Intensity Continuum can be used to help sort stimuli (Event, Feelings, Sensations, Thoughts, Filters, Urges, and Behaviors) ... Picture a pot on a stove..1-Neutral, 2-Warm, 3-Hot, 4-Boiling, 5-Boiling over.

Understanding where you are can help you pause and understand your thinking

One of the areas we talked about was Filter awareness...kind of seeing the world through a certain set of glasses...

Filters…an extremely stable and enduring pattern of thinking that develops during childhood and is elaborated throughout life…

• Resistant to change, initiate extreme, intense emotion, thoughts, and often destructive behaviors.
• Are ideas, not necessarily truth, but important beliefs about oneself and the world
• Are accepted without question, absolute, not conditional, self-perpetuating and ultimately lead to other beliefs based on the filter
• Are activated or trigger by events and, once activated, control our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Allow us to survive, but not heal or recover
• Operate in subtle ways, difficult to identify as they are usually outside of our awareness
• Persist until therapy is focuses on modifying them.

1. Emotional Deprivation…needs (affection, protection, caring, etc) won’t be met by others. Difficulty trusting others, appear independent
2. Abandonment…people close will eventually leave you…avoid close or sabotage relationships
3. Mistrust…others cannot be trusted. Expect others to hurt, cheat, manipulate, lie, etc.
4. Defectiveness/Social Undesirability…belief that you are flawed, bad, socially inept or inferior. Hyper sensitive to criticism, rejection, and blame…insecure around others.
5. Failure to achieve…incapable of performin as well as pears in all areas. May not try because they believe they will fail
6. Vulnerability to harm and illness…always on the verge of a major random catastrophe (financial, natural, medical, etc. May avoid things to avoid pain or hurt they believe will occur.
7. Self-sacrifice…belief where you sacrifice your own needs in order to help others. Feel guilty if they put theirs in front. Helping others gives sense of identity. May resent those they are taking care of
8. Subjugation…must submit to others in order to avoid negative consequences…current control over your behavior, emotional expression, and decisions because you feel coerced by others. Exessively accommodating,
9. Unrelenting standards…nothing good enough…strive to meet excessively high standards to avoid criticism
10. Entitlement…Able to do, say, or have whatever you want…demanding

There are some skills we are being taught...will in the future try to type what we are learning...

Most of us have a little of each of these...I'm guessing that for many 3-4 seem to really hit home...

[Rapunzel]

They pretty much all hit home for me. Especially #4, #5, #1, #2, #8, #7, #9, ... Some more at particular times in my life than other times. The only one that doesn't sound like me is #10.