Dialectic Behaviour Therapy Case Studies

I have been treating Taylor since she was first diagnosed in her early twenties and I have seen an enormous amount of progress within herself and her family. I have been alerted by the local mental health facility that she was admitted yesterday, because she has been showing signs of another episode.
Today, I went to see her and she is doing much better. She seems to have calmed down and understands what has happened. She is still elevated and showing some signs of destructive, manic behaviour. We believe that this was the onset of the stress she has been feeling at university.
She is in her last year of university and at the height of her exams. She feels completely overwhelmed and stressed. Her mother told me that she has stopped going to university completely, because she thinks it is “worthless” and “that nothing matters anymore”. These are …show more content…
This is worrying and unprecedented for her. Every other episode of hers has been impulsive, compulsive and aggressive, so we need to treat this differently.
People that suffer from BPD are much more likely to attempt suicide and to self-harm, so a main thing we need to focus on is making sure she stops self-harming and making her realise that her life is not empty and that her life is worth living.
As a treatment option, we have been doing dialectic behaviour therapy and other family support. This is designed to help her build her self-esteem and to help her have functioning, stable relationships. This is the most popular treatment option for people with BPD as it helps them and their families understand the illness and to control their emotions better.
Taylor is a bright, kind and amazing person and I have every faith in her that she will be able to control her illness and lead a fantastic life. I think society needs to realise that mental illness is not something to be scared of, it is something we need to understand and