What is Borderline Personality Disorder?
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a mental health condition that causes an individual to experience difficulty with regulating emotions. This can lead to intense, rapidly shifting feelings and instability in relationships, self-image, and behaviour. People with BPD often struggle with impulsivity, fear of abandonment and seeing situations in extremes (either all good or all bad). BPD usually develops in adolescence or early adulthood and is often linked to past trauma or significant stress.
Risk Factors for Borderline Personality Disorder
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a mental health condition that causes an individual to experience difficulty with regulating emotions. This can lead to intense, rapidly shifting feelings and instability in relationships, self-image, and behaviour. People with BPD often struggle with impulsivity, fear of abandonment and seeing situations in extremes (either all good or all bad). BPD usually develops in adolescence or early adulthood and is often linked to past trauma or significant stress.
- Family History: Individuals with a close relative, such as a parent or sibling, who has borderline personality disorder may be more likely to develop the condition due to shared genetic factors.
- Brain Structure & Function: Research suggests that people with borderline personality disorder may show structural and functional changes in brain regions involved in impulse control and emotion regulation. It remains unclear, however, whether these changes contribute to the disorder or are a result of it.
- Environmental, Cultural, & Social Factors: Many people with borderline personality disorder have experienced traumatic events in childhood, such as abuse, neglect or abandonment. Others may have grown up in unstable or invalidating environments, marked by conflicts or emotional neglect.
Symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder
Borderline Personality Disorder can differ for each individual, however some common symptoms include:
- Emotional Instability: Rapid mood swings that may last hours or days, with emotions ranging from intense anger, sadness, anxiety or feelings of emptiness.
- Fear of Abandonment: Individuals with BPD may go to great lengths to avoid real or perceived abandonment.
- Unstable Relationships: People with BPD often experience intense, short-duration relationships due to their rapid and extreme change in feelings.
- Impulsive Behaviours: Engaging in risky or self-destructive behaviours such as substance abuse, binge eating, reckless driving, or self-harm can be common.
- Distorted Self-Image: Those with BPD may have a poor sense of identity, leading to frequent changes in their career, values, or goals. They may struggle to see themselves clearly and may feel ‘empty’ inside.
- Self-Harming Behaviour: Some individuals engage in self-injury (e.g., cutting) or experience suicidal ideation or attempts.
How Exercise Helps Individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder
Exercise plays an important part in assisting the management of BPD symptoms and improving health and wellbeing. Physical activity has been shown to positively impact mental health by regulating mood, reducing anxiety and enhancing emotional well-being. BPD has additionally been associated with chronic health problems later in life, such as arteriosclerosis, hypertension, heart disease, CVD, stroke, liver disease and arthritis. For individuals with BPD, regular exercise offers several benefits such as:
- Regulation of Emotions: Exercise releases endorphins, the brain’s natural “feel-good” chemicals, which help to stabilise mood and reduce the intensity of negative emotions.
- Improving Physical Health: Exercise participation plays a pivotal role in improving the physical health in individuals with BPD by reducing the risk of developing chronic health conditions.
- Stress Reduction: Physical activity reduces cortisol, the body’s stress hormone. For people with BPD, this is particularly important because it helps manage the heightened emotional responses often triggered by stress.
- Improved Self-Esteem: Exercise participation promotes a sense of accomplishment, which can help to improve self-image and reduce feelings of emptiness. It also encourages body positivity, which is a common challenge for individuals with BPD.
Exercise Recommendations
There are no specific exercise guidelines for BPD, therefore individuals should follow the Australian activity guidelines for aerobic and resistance exercise:
-
Aerobic Exercise: This includes walking, jogging, swimming etc. These forms of exercise improve an individual’s cardiorespiratory fitness and overall health. It is recommended that 30-minutes of this form of exercise is completed on five or more days per week.
-
Resistance Exercise: This form of exercise improves muscular strength and endurance in people who live with BPD. It is important to focus on the major muscle groups when completing this form of exercise. Resistance training is recommended to be undertaken two to three times per week.
-
Yoga & Tai Chi: These low-intensity forms of exercise promote relaxation and reduce sympathetic nervous system activity, which aids in the regulation of emotions and reducing stress. By encouraging mindfulness and body awareness, Yoga and Tai Chi can be effective tools in managing BPD symptoms.
Written by Uplift Exercise Physiologist, Tom Davies
References
