Difficulties with Assessing and Diagnosing Borderline Personality Disorder

Nicole Strickland

47025603

PYC4802

Assignment 2: 220637

10 March 2012

PERSONALITY DISORDERS:

PROBLEMS RELATED TO ASSESSING AND CLASSIFYING/DIAGNOSING 16 TO 20 YEAR OLDS WITH PATTERNS OF IMPULSIVITY, INSTABILITY IN INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS, SELF-IMAGE AND AFFECT.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction p. 3

1. Difficulties in Assessment p. 4

2.1 Typical Adolescent Characteristics p. 4

2.2 Symptoms Change with Age p. 4

2.3 Commitment: Long-term Analysis and Professional Bias p. 5

3. Difficulties with Diagnosis p. 6

3.1 Diagnostic Criteria p. 6 3.2 Co-morbid Disorders: Masking of correct diagnosis p. 8

4. Conclusion p. 9

4. References p. 10

1. INTRODUCTION

Personality disorders severely affect sufferers’ daily life activities and functioning in various spheres of living such as work and social relationships. The DSM-IV-TR (2000) defines personality disorders as "an enduring pattern of inner experience and behaviour that deviates markedly from the expectations of the individual's culture, is pervasive and inflexible, has an onset in adolescence or early adulthood, is stable over time, and leads to distress or impairment”. That is, only when personality traits are maladaptive and significantly problematic do they comprise personality disorders. There is one personality disorder in particular that is a thorn in the flesh for many practitioners.

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is thought to affect about 2% of the general population (Nevid, 2006), but it is still greatly under-diagnosed compared to other disorders. Not surprisingly, it is because of the many difficulties encountered with regard to the identification of the disorder and finding the correct diagnosis.

According to the...