Borderline Personality Disorder Treatment in Austin, TX

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a complex condition that impacts how a person thinks, feels, and behaves.

People who live with BPD often have difficulty maintaining stable relationships, and several symptoms can be dangerous. While some are similar to other mental illnesses, the combination of BPD symptoms can feel overwhelming.

If you or someone you love is struggling with BPD, we can help.

What Is Borderline Personality Disorder?

BPD is a serious illness – and while it can be challenging, it’s also treatable.

Generally, people with BPD experience intense mood swings and have trouble regulating their emotions. This can impact relationships with loved ones and lead to impulsive and sometimes destructive behaviors.

Borderline Personality Disorder Symptoms

Borderline personality disorder symptoms include:

• Efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment
• A pattern of unstable relationships
• Distorted and unstable self-image or sense of self
• Impulsive and often dangerous behaviors (e.g., substance use, unsafe sex, reckless driving)
• Self-harming or suicidal behavior
• Chronic feelings of emptiness
• Intense and highly changeable moods
• Inappropriate bursts of anger or problems controlling anger
• Dissociation – feeling like you’re disconnected from your thoughts or sense of identity

Not everyone with BPD will experience all of these symptoms, but some people will experience many of them over time. These symptoms usually appear during adolescence or early adulthood, although early symptoms may occur during childhood.

Co-Occurring Disorders

One reason BPD is difficult to diagnose is because the condition is often accompanied by other mental illnesses, such as depression, anxiety or substance use. During a mental health assessment, be sure to discuss all your symptoms and concerns.

What Does Borderline Personality Disorder Treatment Look Like?

With treatment, people who have BPD can live healthy, productive, and fulfilling lives. When you seek treatment, you may be prescribed therapy, medication or, likely, both.

There’s no one medication that is specifically made to treat BPD, but medication can often help relieve symptoms and treat other co-occurring illnesses, like depression. People with BPD may benefit from antidepressants or mood stabilizers to help with extreme mood swings.

Medication is usually prescribed in conjunction with psychotherapy, sometimes called talk therapy. Specifically, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helps people with BPD challenge their core beliefs and negative patterns of thinking. CBT can help you learn new ways to interact with others while teaching you skills to manage your emotions.

If you’re experiencing severe symptoms, especially if you are a threat to yourself or others, you may be recommended for inpatient mental health treatment. When you no longer require constant medical monitoring, you may step down to outpatient mental health treatment. Or, if you are not in crisis, you may start your treatment as an outpatient.

At our Austin, TX-area facilities, both inpatient and outpatient services typically offer individual, group, and family therapy, along with medication management. Other opportunities may include holistic therapies, like yoga or music therapy, as well as mindfulness training and wellness education.

How Do I Get Help for Borderline Personality Disorder?

It’s important to receive the correct diagnosis for borderline personality disorder as people with BPD are often misdiagnosed due to overlapping symptoms with other illnesses. To get help at our facility, you can schedule a no-obligation assessment by calling or chatting with us anytime, day or night. We also offer walk-in appointments.

Your assessment will help our team understand your history with BPD and identify all of the symptoms you’re experiencing, as well as any other physical or emotional concerns you have. We’ll then work with you to create a comprehensive treatment plan to meet your needs.