How Many People Have Borderline Personality Disorder?
It is estimated to affect two to three percent of the general population, ten percent of patients seen in outpatient clinics and as many as twenty percent of hospitalized psychiatric patients. The depression which accompanies this disorder can cause much suffering and can lead to serious suicide attempts. There is a ten percent mortality rate in people with this disorder (i.e., suicide). BPD worsens the outcome and complicates the treatment of any other disorder such as Major Depression, Bipolar Disorder, Eating Disorders, and Substance Abuse Disorder. BPD is difficult to diagnose and is often misdiagnosed as Depression, Bipolar Disorder or Anti-social Personality Disorder. As a consequence, persons with BPD are difficult to treat and often frustrate clinicians. Why Do Some People Develop BPD? At one point, BPD was believed to be caused by faulty parenting, and many families felt unfairly blamed. There was also a common misconception that people with this disorder had a character weakn
