Diagnosis: Borderline Personality Disorder (Primary)
DSM-5 Diagnostic Criteria for Borderline Personality Disorder (Lyons&Martin,2013,p.204): 301.83 (F60.3) Borderline Personality Disorder
A pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, and marked by impulsivity beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:
1. Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment. (Note: Do not include suicidal or self-mutilating behavior covered in Criterion 5.)
2. A patter of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation.
3. Identify disturbance: …show more content…
Some psychologists believe that parental neglect, a loss during childhood, or a deficient attachment between a child and parent can cause borderline personality disorder. Studies also show that high levels of physical and sexual abuse in childhood can cause borderline personality disorder as well (Lyons&Martin,2013,p.204). When Amanda was six years old her parents divorced. At the beginning her father was rarely there to support. However, after he remarried and had another family he abandoned them, and he never came around again. When Amanda turned seven her mother got a job and Amanda took on the role as the care giver for her little sister when her mother wasn’t at home. Amanda was finally content on how things were around the house and at school, but she started to question if her parent’s divorce was her fault. Amanda was thirteen years old when her mother remarried. She gained a step-father and a step-brother. This made Amanda upset because she didn’t have all the responsibility anymore. Amanda and her mother started family therapy, but her step-father never went because he believed it was a waste of time. When Amanda went to the sessions she never opened up about anything that has happened or was happening in her life. However, the therapist knew she had underlying anger due to the inkblot test. During her mother’s and step-father’s marriage Amanda was being sexually abused by …show more content…
General Medical Condition: There is no medical condition that is associated with borderline personality disorder.
Psychosocial and Environmental Stressors: The psychosocial and environmental stressors that could have triggered Amanda to having borderline personality disorder were the abandonment of her father, and her mother not always being around due to working all the time. Another stressor could be from her step-brother sexually abusing her as well as having a high level of substance abuse with her peer group from junior high all the way through high school.
Treatment History: Amanda has been through a variety of treatment methods. She has been through family therapy, has taken antidepressant medicine, and has been hospitalized many times. During Amanda’s childhood she went through family therapy that lasted three months, but it wasn’t successful because she never opened up. When she was hospitalized they prescribed Amanda antidepressants but they did not work for her. Also during her hospitalization, Amanda went through psychotherapy which supposed to help Amanda have trusting relationships among