On the show today we are continuing a series honoring Mental Awareness month and talking about personality disorders, a mental health disorder that causes the person to have a lack of adaptability and limited coping responses to stress and can result in significant distress for the person.
The goal this month has been to build awareness of different mental illnesses. We have been doing some myth-busting and I have highlighted some incredible people who have lived experience but have taken what was some of the hardest and darkest moments of their life and now are using them to equip and strengthen others.
And today we get to hear from Maree Dee, a Writer | Speaker | Mental Health Advocate | and Ministry Leader—passionate about encouraging and equipping others to embrace life in the midst of the unexpected.
She is a devoted and experienced advocate for families living with mental health challenges. Maree knows firsthand the pain of watching family members struggle with mental illness and understand the helpless feelings which can leave caregivers lost and without hope.
PERSONALITY DISORDER AS A MENTAL ILLNESS
Personality disorders are highly misunderstood and if I’m honest the name doesn’t help.
A person’s personality is so unique and tied to their identity, how could you label someone’s personality to be disordered. What is the determinant for a healthy personality disorder?
Personality is made up of behaviours, thoughts and emotions that make each person unique.
Our personalities allow others to predict and anticipate our responses to situations. A person with a “healthy” personality demonstrates a range of coping responses and styles when placed in a stressful situation.
Things like the ability to think about the problem or situation from different perspectives or viewpoints, or that there might be more than one solution, or perhaps that situation might be more complex than simple cause and effect.
A disordered personality does not have this kind of adaptability and flexibility and this can result in distress for the person and for those around them.
There are 10 personality disorders recognized in psychiatry however borderline personality disorder and antisocial personality disorder are the most frequently diagnosed personality disorders.
In today’s episode, we are going to take a closer look at borderline personality disorder.
BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER
A common question is what causes BPD. A couple of causes are;
- A person’s genetic inheritance, biology, and environmental experiences all contribute to the development of BPD
- Environmental factors that may contribute to the development of BPD in vulnerable individuals include separation, neglect, abuse, or other traumatic childhood events.
BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER IN NURTURING AND CARING ENVIRONMENT
Families that provide a nurturing and caring environment may still have children who develop BPD, while children who experience appalling childhoods do not necessarily develop BPD.
This can be stressful because caring for someone who is highly emotionally reactive and has a limited ability is difficult to cope with. As a caregiver, you may unintentionally act in ways that can worsen your loved one’s symptoms.
Therefore it is common for therapy and support to be recommended for family members too.
This was the case for Maree who began to seek support when a family member was diagnosed with BPD.
MAREE’S STORY
In this show, Maree shares;
- Why self-care is important for caregivers supporting loved ones with a personality disorder
- Her journey in parenting a child with a mental illness
- The importance of asking for support
- Embracing faith while managing borderline personality disorder
- Teaching about personality disorder
HOW LEADERS SHOULD RELATE WITH PEOPLE WITH PERSONALITY DISORDERS
- Keep showing up for them
- Learn how to validate them
CONNECT WITH MAREE DEE
Website:embracingtheunexpected.com
RESOURCES
National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder : borderlinepersonalitydisorder.org
National Alliance on Mental IIlness: nami.org
CONNECT WITH HOPE MADE STRONG
Websites: HopeMadeStrong.org
Socials: Facebook – Instagram – Twitter – YouTube
Join the Church Mental Health Facebook Group! In the Facebook group, we chat about how to care for others, what are your challenges as well as share tons of resources. This is a great community of pastors, clinicians, and those with lived experience and we want to get to know you.