Bipolar Disorder and BPD Co-occurrence
Can you have bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder at the same time? I’ve been asked this question several times and the answer is yes. In fact, some people will refer to this as borderpolar. This isn’t an official term but one that’s coined by professionals in the field. One of the key places bpd and bipolar disorder overlap is in the mood instability.
Products To Support You
Bipolar Basics Guide Ebook
Life In Action Digital Workbook
With bpd, you can get rapidly shifting mood states that last hours or a day. Whereas episodes of mania or depression last a minimum of 4 days for hypomania and 2 weeks for depression. The latest research has shown is about 20% of people have both disorders. Twenty percent is still a low frequency, it’s less than half. But even so, the people who have both of these going on at the same time tend to have a more severe illness course. This matters with the treatment you get.
The primary treatment for bipolar disorder is medication first and therapy second. Helpful therapies are social rhythm and interpersonal therapy, cognitive behavior therapy, psychodynamic therapy, and dialectical behavior therapy. For borderline personality disorder, the primary treatment is therapy first and maybe medication if there is something else to treat like depression, anxiety or ADHD just to name a few.
The gold standard therapy for borderline personality disorder dialectical behavior therapy. If you have both disorders, you need medication and DBT or some other comparable therapy for your borderline personality disorder. Medication alone is probably not going to be enough. This is something your doctor or therapist could help you navigate and determine the best course of treatment.
