today we're going to be talking about some of the similarities and differences between complex ptsd
and borderline personality disorder and how you can distinguish between the two
hi everyone borderline personality disorder and complex ptsd are relatively common psychological
conditions that often get confused with one another due to overlapping patterns of
behavior and emotional dysregulation in today's video i'm going to be talking about some of
the similarities between these two conditions and some of the key differences that can help
you distinguish between the two but before i get into that just a couple of disclaimers to go over
i'm a registered psychologist in the province of british columbia canada and this video is for
informational purposes only it is not intended as a substitute or replacement for advice
from your doctor or mental health professional now with those things out
of the way let's start talking about complex ptsd and borderline personality disorder
now on the surface borderline personality disorder and complex ptsd can appear to be very similar
conditions due to overlapping behavior and emotions symptoms in the conditions now i've
done videos detailing the symptoms of each so i'd encourage you to check them out if you wanted to
learn more details about these conditions now both complex ptsd and borderline personality disorder
are both associated with high levels of emotional distress and reactivity or responsiveness
to emotional triggers and these can contribute to suicidal thoughts and dissociation
additionally people with complex ptsd and borderline personality disorder can struggle with
issues related to negative self-concept the way they perceive or view themselves and
how they view that other people may see them it's also very common to find emotional dysregulation
uh characterized by rapid mood swings or irritable or angry outbursts you find those both in complex
ptsd and borderline personality disorder and so it's due to some of these commonalities that
people often confuse complex ptsd with borderline personality disorder however there are some key
differences in distinguishing factors between complex ptsd and borderline personality disorder
and one of the first key differences between the two conditions is that borderline personality
disorder doesn't require the person to have experienced a traumatic stressor
whereas in complex ptsd part of the defining characteristic part of the
diagnostic requirement is that a person has experienced a traumatic stressor
in individuals with complex ptsd they'll often feel a sense of
shame and blame their self blame themselves for their interpersonal difficulties now
this is also found in individuals experiencing borderline personality disorder
but a key difference is that individuals with complex ptsd usually don't engage in self-harming
behaviors triggered by these feelings of shame associated with their interpersonal difficulties
this is more commonly seen in borderline personality disorder where interpersonal
conflict or stressors can trigger episodes of self-harming behaviors including suicide attempts
now both borderline personality disorder and complex ptsd can involve fear and anxiety and
interpersonal relationships however this is often associated with a fear of abandonment
in borderline personality disorder which is not often the case in complex ptsd for
someone with borderline personality disorder they often struggle with the thought of being alone
and tend to use relationships to prevent feelings of abandonment or loneliness
personality disorder often involves intense volatile relationships associated with high levels
of hostility um the person may alternate between periods of being enmeshed with the other person
and periods of being disengaged from the other person in order to avoid real or imagined
abandonment complex ptsd individuals may avoid relationships because
they feel unlovable or undeserving or avoid relationships altogether because they feel
unsafe or threatened in those relationships the the relationship difficulties in complex ptsd
tend to be characterized by avoidance and detachment based on that fear of closeness
now individuals with complex ptsd and borderline personality disorder can have difficulties with
self-concept in borderline personality disorder individuals often struggle with an understanding
of who they are at their core their interests or hobbies may change
depending on who they're interacting with because of a limited or unstable sense of self-identity
this is different in people with complex ptsd who tend to have a more stable sense of who they are
however people with complex ptsd often struggle with feeling damaged and carry misperceptions
about themselves as being unlovable or broken it's in this context that they
may lose a sense of their values and beliefs following traumatic events
additionally the negative self-perceptions and beliefs in complex ptsd tend to be associated
with a chronic but stable sense of guilt shame and worthlessness in relation to the impact
of the traumatic event or the traumatic stressor they experienced however in borderline personality
disorder the individual's sense of self is much more unstable it's much more fragmented
in complex ptsd emotional dysregulation is often associated with chronic difficulties in being able
to calm themselves down when they're distressed or upset and a chronic sense of emotional numbing
the person has difficulty with self-soothing and feels a sense of emotional numbing to the extent
that they may struggle to feel emotion however in complex ptsd it typically doesn't involve
the same extent of emotional dysregulation that's found in borderline personality
disorder where it's characterized by extreme uncontrollable anger and severe mood swings
another difference is that it's much more common to see suicide attempts and self-injurious
behaviors in borderline personality disorder compared to complex ptsd about 50 of people
with borderline personality disorder will engage in suicidal or self-harming or self-injurious
behaviors compared with approximately 15 percent of people with complex ptsd
therefore the key differences between borderline personality disorder and complex ptsd
are that borderline personality disorder is more often characterized by fears of
abandonment and an unstable sense of self unstable relationships with other people
and more impulsive self-harming behaviors whereas in complex ptsd the self-concept
is more likely to be consistently negative and interpersonal relationship difficulties
are more due to a sense of alienation and avoidance in relationships
so you might be wondering okay i i get that there may be a difference between borderline
personality disorder and complex ptsd but so what how does this why does this matter what's
why do these differences mean something well these differences are important
because whether you have complex ptsd or borderline personality disorder
it leads to important differences in terms of how the conditions are treated
so the focus of treatment and borderline personality disorder usually focuses on
reducing self-injurious behaviors suicidality dependency on the other person or other people
and developing a more stable sense of self the most common form and the most effective form
of treatment for borderline personality disorder is dialectical behavior therapy
whereas for complex ptsd treatment usually focuses on reducing social and interpersonal avoidance
processing traumatic memories and developing a more positive self-concept
and this is most effectively done using cognitive behavioral therapy approaches
for treating the symptoms of ptsd
so those are some of the similarities and differences between borderline personality
disorder and complex ptsd and a sense of of how these differences lead to differences in terms of
how they're treated um i hope that makes sense to you i'd love to hear any questions or comments you
might have so please leave me some comments in the comment section down below if you've been enjoying
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thank you for making it all the way to the end of this video and i will see you in the next one