The Gift of the Present

Issues with Brain Development: Thanks to MRI scans conducted on sufferers of BPD, researchers have identified that the condition may be associated with issues in three specific parts of the brain. In many people with BPD these parts of the brain were either undeveloped or showed unusual activity. These parts are: The orbitofrontal cortex, responsible for decision-making and planning The hippocampus, which is responsible for regulating behavior and exhibiting self-control The amygdala, which plays a substantial role in the control of negative emotions such as aggression, anxiety and fear. Environmental Factors: Genetic and biological factors such as brain make-up are far from the only elements believed to play a part in the onset of BPD. Remember, a thorough consultation is always advisable - as are follow-up consultations - as we are emotionally attached to ourselves and so it can be tough to objectively see what's really going on with our skin. Skin always changing, no routine should be set in stone for a long period of time, and because of this, regular consultations are smart. Your skin is a dynamic, living (but not breathing) thing. It changes like everything else in life - it changes when you age, when the seasons change, when your lifestyle changes, if you get pregnant, if you are going through the menopause. What's more, every single person's skin is different, or skindividual, as we like to say here at Nerd HQ. Ingredients that I've recommended for a condition may not suit your skin for certain reasons unbeknownst to me. You need an outsider to look at your skin, specifically a qualified outsider, someone who will look at your skin objectively. Education is key and there is a lot of miseducation and biased education out there. Someone at a one-brand stall in a shopping centre is going to sell you that brand and that brand only. So please be mindful of this.Among the people watching those frightening broadcasts in California one spring evening were Sandy and Dee, a young couple who were practicing Christian Scientists. A number of environmental factors are also common among sufferers of borderline personality disorder. Many of these stem from our experiences as children, as our childhood plays such an enormous part in the shaping of our adult lives. Some of the issues experienced by BPD sufferers include:

Parental neglect as a child Being a victim of emotional, physical or sexual abuse, particularly as a child Being exposed to long-term fear or stress, particularly as a child Growing up with a family member who suffered from a serious mental condition, or who had problems with drug and alcohol abuse Issues of neglect or abuse in childhood can manifest themselves in a number of different ways in our adult life. Childhood trauma can cause us to bury our true feelings and present a false self to the world, can drive intense feelings of lack of self-worth and cause a range of attachment issues that present themselves in all kinds of relationships. For sufferers of BPD, the effects of childhood trauma can be seen in traits such as expecting others to be a parent to you, idealizing others, or expecting others to bully you. Their religion taught them that God created all his children in his own perfect image--and that with prayer, you could heal yourself, your family, and even people thousands of miles away. But to harness that ability, you needed the mental discipline to overlook what the rest of the world was telling you about human disease. Their religion had served them well until now. The news described a condition that sounded exactly like what was afflicting their one-and-a-half-year-old son, who had been looking pale and acting listless. The couple had been working with a Christian Science practitioner, or healer, who helped them pray for the child. But it didn't seem to be having any effect. Dee, a lifelong Christian Scientist, had never doubted the power of her religion before. She had seen it heal dozens, maybe hundreds, of people and thought it was the very best care she could offer her son. Sandy, on the other hand, was a convert. A former professional baseball player, he had lost his spot on the Los Angeles Dodgers roster because of a painful shoulder injury that was miraculously cured six months later when he joined the Christian Science faith. Diagnosing Borderline Personality Disorder As discussed in article Two, if you believe yourself or a loved one is suffering from borderline personality disorder, it is crucial to get professional help as soon as possible.

BPD can lead to violence, damaged relationships, any number of dangerous behaviors, and even suicide. It is not something that you should attempt to handle without the help of a trained psychologist, or other mental health professional. Self Diagnoses: While you have likely identified several of the traits mentioned in articles One and Two, the following questions can help you determine whether you might be affected by BPD: Do your emotions change very quickly? Do you often experience extreme anger, sadness or distress? Do you often feel empty or unfulfilled? In many ways, this made him even more devout than his wife was, even more sure that his religion was the best possible treatment for his baby. But fear is a powerful thing, especially when it comes to your children. Today we know that Legionnaires' disease is spread through the air--often through contaminated ventilation systems--and we have effective antibiotics for it. But in 1978, all anyone knew was that it struck without warning and was lethal in about 15 percent of adult cases. When Dee and Sandy saw the newscast explaining that a similar disease was infecting scores of people in their area, they panicked and feared the worst. Christian Scientists believe that fear impedes one's ability to heal--and, sure enough, over the course of the next day, the boy's condition worsened. One night it looked as though he was passing away in their arms. His face turned ashen, and his eyes rolled back in his head. Dee, at her wits' end, considered for the first time going to a hospital--usually a last resort used by Christian Scientists only in the case of injuries like broken bones. For any of us, this might seem like the logical first step--something any loving parent would be obliged to do. Are you constantly afraid the people I care about with leave me? Are most of your romantic relationships intense and unstable? Does the way you feel about the people in your life tend to fluctuate from one extreme to the other?

Are you ever tempted to engage in self-injury or attempt suicide? When you feel insecure in a relationship, do you ever lash out or behave impulsively in a desperate attempt to keep your lover close? Do you ever engage in dangerous behavior such as binge drinking, drug use, unsafe sex or reckless driving? If you or your loved one answered yes to several or all of these statements, it may indicate borderline personality disorder. Professional Diagnoses: BPD will be officially diagnosed following a clinical assessment by a mental health professional. The generally accepted method of diagnosis involves presenting the patient with a list of characteristics and asking them whether they feel such characteristics accurately represents them. For Dee, it was a frightening prospect, but she was too terrified to pray effectively and didn't know what else to do. Unless you have lived in a community of people who place their lives in the hands of their faith, it's hard to understand what it means to break from that guiding principle, to admit that what you've spent your life believing isn't working. It's even harder to understand what happened next. Dee put her son down, went into the next room, and called her Christian Science healer yet again. Almost yelling, she gave the woman one last chance to affirm everything she believed in and had risked her son's life for. I don't know if this religion works or not--but it damn well better work now! I'm losing my son! The practitioner began reassuring Dee, saying, It doesn't matter whether this religion works or not. God loves your child. Over the next couple of minutes, everything changed for Dee. By actively involving patients in their own diagnosis this way, sufferers are likely to come to terms with the disorder more quickly. Mental health experts have produced a list of nine symptoms associated with borderline personality disorder. For a person to be diagnosed with BPD, they must exhibit at least five of the following traits:

Fear of abandonment Unclear or changing self-image Unstable relationships Impulsive and/or self-destructive behaviors Tendency towards self-hard or suicide attempts Extreme mood swings Difficulty controlling rage She let go of herself and put her trust in God. The world was transformed from a place where her son was dying and her community was helpless to save him into a world in which everything was perfect and God's love enveloped her family like a warm, comforting blanket. Dee walked into the next room and saw what most people would describe as a miracle. Her child was sitting up, happy in his father's arms, his color returned, a smile on his face. Over the next few weeks, he seemed healed. The couple kept him isolated from other children while members of the church came to help care for the boy. He was happy, and nobody was worried about his having the disease anymore. Their religion had worked, and their faith had been rewarded. God, I must have heard this story a thousand times growing up. You see, I was that dying child. Paranoia or suspicion of others' motives. Persistent feelings of emptiness Such an evaluation will also discuss the severity of these symptoms and when they began, along with determining when they may have begun.