I'm becoming more and more convinced that my sister may suffer from this mental illness.  Does anyone know which treatments and/or medication works best for this?

 Karolina

She may be suffering from food intollerances and nutritient deficiency which resembles this disorder in some and a fresh whole food diet with probiotics & a multi-mineral supplement can solve this problem readily. A food intollerance test would be very helpful before reaching for the medication.

If her behaviour changes after consuming caffeine, sugar or artificial sugar for example, this may indicate a chemical problem not a psychological one.  Observe when her personality changes and what she's eaten or been doing.  Computer games, mobile phones etc can also have adverse effects on people's behaviour. In my experience foods thought to be healthy are toxic to some.  Oranges (rage) for example can cause personality dis-ease in our house as does sugar (high), wheat (depression) and blue food colouring (manic). 

Checking for hypoglycemia or diabetes using the saliver test (I think its called WHO) over a couple of hours rather than the blood test version  might be beneficial as rocketing blood sugars produce some wild symptoms.  You may need to specifically ask for this test with the GP as here it is not offered readily.

A Chiropractor or Osteopath who specialises in cranial work and practices applied kinesiology would be very effective if a traumatised skull is causing a short circuit and many can do food intollerance testing while they are at it.

Dear Ellay

Thank you for taking the time to reply and making suggestions.

 

Karolina

kmichalak:

I'm becoming more and more convinced that my sister may suffer from this mental illness.  Does anyone know which treatments and/or medication works best for this?

 Karolina

Hi Karolina.  Sorry to hear about your concerns about your sister.  Borderline Personality Disorder is quite a serious diagnosis. Do you mind me asking, what makes you worry that she is suffering from BPD? 

Osteopaths, chiropractors and kinesiologists are totally unqualifed to even recegonise never mind help with this condition. 

Best

Harradine

Dear Harradine

 She has a history of substance abuse (heroin in the past and alcohol on-going).  She sees this as the cause of her problems, (relationship problems, volatile temper, etc) but I am wondering if it is a symptom of a greater problem.  Reading articles on BPD makes me think that this fits her profile.  As we do not live in the same country and I don't see her more than once every few years, I have been removed from the situation but recent events have made me realise that she needs help of some sort.

My brother in law has confirmed that over the years, doctors have made various diagnoses of her condition, including mental health problems, but she has refused treatment.

 Perhaps this isn't the right forum to be asking these questions, but it is one that I have trusted over the years and just wondered if there was any knowledge on what is effective treatment.

Karolina

Dear Karolina,

That sounds very worrying.  I think (and this is just my personal opinion) that you are right to think that subtsance abuse can be the sign of underlying problems.  These sorts of problems can be difficult to admit to ones self, let alone a doctor or family member.  Once these problems lead to drug abuse, then of course that opens a new set of very complex problems in their own right, very serious ones potentially, and this can be the cause of many others.  So its easy to see perhaps why your sister blames drug abuse for her troubles.

 It must be very frustrating and worrying for you to be physically removed from the situation. From what you say I think you are definitely right to be concerned and to beleive that your sister needs professional help. 

Like I say, BPD is a very serious diagnosis and can only be made by an expert psychiatrist, and really only by one with specialist knowledge of that specific disorder.  A specialist specialist if you like. It is unfortunately that your sister refuses treatment.  Does she give any reasons why she refuses treatment?  Its a very common problem, especially with substance abuse.  Help can seem just too difficult to accept sometimes.

 I'm glad you have found help on this forum.  I am not a psychiatrist, or a medical doctor (I am a neuropharmacologist, a specialist in brain chemistry- so far removed from patient care), so I am not qualified to advise you on this problem.  All I would say is that alternative therapists aren't either, and really should admit that, or risk doing more harm than good.  They are definitely not qualified to diagnose or treat such conditions (and, as I say, must admit that).

It really sounds like your sister needs professional help.  But of course there is only so much you can do.  She has to decide to help herself at some point, and that begins with accepting the help that is offered. 

All is not lost, people can turn their lives around from almost any situation.  She is lucky to have people who care.  I think that is more important than anything else.

 I wish you all the very best.

H

There is a benign substance (oil) on the market which might possibly assist if she was prepared to use it for cooking or add it to her food on a regular daily basis. A teasponful each time, possibly 3 times daily could benefit her. There is no eureka-effect as the benfits only come through regular usage. It is certainly worthy of testing. Her husband could help by purchasing it and encouraging her to take it. The oil (or oils) are termed medium-chained fatty acids (or triglycerides) (MCTs) and there appears to be some growing evidence that it might produce neurological benefits. Research on this substance is still in its infancy but it is already showing some interesting possibilities.

I worry when I read questions on whether a person is suffering BPD, and indeed many so called personality disorders, that requires expert help.  I believe we have lost touch with ourselves as a general public and we clamour for expert help as though they hold the illusive cures to our conditions.  I regularly pick up the casualties of psychiatry where, people have been given a diagnosis, treated with drugs, and then told if the drugs don't help, and CBT doesn't get to the root, then there's nothing more the mental health service can offer them.  The consequence of this is that we nurture a drug dependent individual whose self esteem stays depressed because they believe they are somehow organically "odd".

In the case of drug or alcohol dependency as is promoted by AA and Al anon and NA etc, you cannot help anyone till they see the need for it themselves.  In fact, it is important that people do not help so that the person affected can experience the full impact of the consequences of their behaviour.  Without that personal realisation, unwelcome help will only ever stem the flow, it will not heal the wound.

In my opinion, there is no question there are underlying problems that very likely back up from childhood, and are being played out in the here and now. 

The label of BPD may offer you some kind of framework within which to understand her behaviour, but she is still only a human being with, what sounds like, some developmental issues that need to be addressed.  I understand she is in a different country to you..... I understand your anxiety.  If I can be of any professional help, please do not hesitate to contact me.  www.openmindtherapy.co.uk

Jenny

 

Vitex is an herbal progesterone widely available at health food stores...Because it is non-prescription,(low dosage), it must be taken for three months (3-5 capsules a day) to load into your system...herbal progesterone dampens mood swings which are often tied to mental inbalance ...combine this with regular visits to someone in the professional consulting field (psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker, minister, help group counselor)...(also- many PMS formulations at health food stores contain Vitex, just remember to load them sufficiently before expecting results...)

In addition to finding someone capable of addressing  toxicity/allergy/nutritional deficiency  possibilities underlying her mental state (look for an MD who does "environmental medicine"--there are a few out there!  myabe google "environmental medicine" and your town;  also some psychiatrists do it, they may go under the heading "integrative psychiatry"),   Dialectical Behavioral Therapy may help.  It was developed especially for BPD and suicidal people.  Go to http://www.behavioraltech.com/index.cfm?CFID=1526675&CFTOKEN=41015998 to find practictioners.  Also, there's are books on DBT on Amazon.

 love and healing to you and your sister!

e

Hello Karolina,

You have had quite a bit of advice but no one has mentioned Homoeopathy. As a well experienced Hom it would be my first line of defence at this point.

Harradine is well intentioned but is wrong to suggest that a diagnosis ie a label, is necessary before treatment can be beneficial. In fact in Hom medicine we do not diagnose at all. It is quite possible to think that a cranial osteopathic technique, or a kinesiologist would be able to help. I think Hom is the best course of action here and preferably not a doctor Homoeopath. You would need to be very choosy. 

I wish you and your sister all the best.

Stephanie

I should probably defend myself now!. 

I definitely do not beleive that a diagnosis is necessary before treatment can be beneficial.  In fact I think I went far enough to say that a diagnosis of BPD is a very serious thing.  And indeed it is.  Even within the psychiatric profession, it is not a diagnosis that is made lightly- it can cause a multitude of susbsequent problems just to receive the diagnosis.  That was my point:  BPD is something that should only be diagnosed by an expert when they are sure they have ruled out all other problems.  Otherwise there can be very negative consequences.

Stephanie, it seems clear that you are well intentioned also.  But can I ask you honestly (and I speak frankly), is there a homeopathic treatment that would help, is proven to help?  It sounds like there are problems here and possibly many ways to deal with them.  I really don't see how homeopathy would help, but am willing to be proven wrong.  Does homeopathy have efficacy with this sort of problem?

As I said in my post (and although it should be obvious that I give more respect to conventional medicine than is...well conventional on these forums).. the fact that this individual has a family that cares is probably her greatest asset and hope.  Is there some middle ground there between us "conventionalists" and you " alternativists".  If there is then I would love to learn more, as I hope you would do also.

Best wishes

H

 

I urge you all to check out Quantum Physics.  Scientific findings are revealing very exciting ways for us to deal with ourselves and our world.  Google it and prepare yourself to be challenged and changed.

Dear Karolina

Sorry to hear about your sister, she is like mine. Your sister is an addict and the side effects of alcohol and drug abuse causes all sorts of mental health problems. My sister had cocain psychosis and is now an alcoholic. Giving a label to someone like Personality Disorder just gives them more excuses to abuse themselves.eg 'I cant help it'. She needs to get counselling and join a support group but she sounds like she is in denial like most addicts and to be honest there is nothing anyone can do until she reaches her rock bottom. That means suffering so much she cannot tolerate it any longer.The more everyone panders to her the less help she will seek. Alcoholics can suffer from 'wet brain' that cannot be cured. She needs to go to rehab and withdraw from all the chemicals she has used. She may have had a bad past but all the more resaon to get therapy not using chemicals to deal with her emotions..Addicts can wear you down if you keep trying to rescue and enable her. Hope this helps. Shashy

I'm afraid you set yourself up to have to defend yourself when you stated, that you weren't qualified to diagnose and that "All I would say is that alternative therapists aren't either, and really should admit that, or risk doing more harm than good."  The alternative world is able to help probably at least as effectively if not more, precisely because it does not buy into conventional doctrine.  You cannot know the effectiveness of all alternatives, especially if you are from a conventional background.  And Homeopathy, considers that diagnoses can be red herrings because clients are treated 'constitutionally' which means according to their personality traits and body types - so each treatment is tailor made to the individual NOT to the diagnosis.

I'm sorry to argue over the original questioner's very sensitive issue.  I hope the responses so far have been supportive.

Jenny