There is a large area of human conditions that cannot yet be attributed to mental disorders, but they are no longer he alth either. Such a state is borderline, and it determines many phobias inherent in a person, neuroses, syndromes of experiencing extreme or inadequate situations, as well as chronic fatigue syndrome. Often, borderline conditions are found to underlie the subsequent development of a somatic or neurosomatic disease.
They are almost 10 times more common than overt mental disorders. And in this article we will try to understand them in more detail.
What causes a borderline personality state
Out of every 100 people, two have a borderline condition. But what exactly is its immediate cause, the researchers still find it difficult to say. It can also be attributed to violationbalance of neurotransmitters that help regulate our mood, and hereditary predisposition to mental illness.
People who find themselves in this state, according to the observations of researchers, often belong to the group of those who experienced physical or emotional abuse, early loss of parents or separation from them in childhood. If these traumas are combined with personality traits that are characterized by a severe reaction to stress or high anxiety, then the risk of developing borderline disorder is greatly increased.
Borderline mental states often develop in the context of depressive disorders, as well as alcohol and drug abuse.
By the way, the well-known fact that this ailment is often accompanied by impaired functioning of certain parts of the brain has not yet shed light on whether this problem is the cause of the borderline condition or its consequence.
Specific features of the borderline state
The borderline state, from the point of view of psychoanalysis, differs from psychosis in the patient's ability to realize reality, relying on common sense and drawing a line between subjective and objective impressions.
Although the key feature of the borderline state is still instability, caused by the constant fear of being abandoned by others, even if this threat does not really correspond to reality. This, by the way, can sometimes cause a person to reject others first, which cannot but lead to an increase inrelationship problems.
- People in this condition may experience anxiety and depression attacks frequently and usually for no apparent reason.
- Such a person has a very unstable concept of the significance of his own personality - from complete self-abasement to ex altation of his own merits.
- The interpersonal relationships of these people are also unstable: they can quickly switch from idealizing the personal qualities of a friend to contempt for him (and for no apparent reason).
Borderline condition: symptoms
In addition, people who are borderline have at least a few of the following disorders.
Thus, they can act on a momentary impulse, such as spending money extravagantly, having multiple sexual partners, overeating heavily, or driving a car at the risk of their lives.
The borderline clinic is characterized by feelings of prolonged emptiness or outbursts of uncontrollable anger that escalate into fights. Emotionally overreactions or repeated suicide attempts are also very characteristic of such people.
For a diagnosis of borderline disorder, these symptoms must be severe enough and long-lasting enough to cause communication problems.
Panic attacks are part of the borderline state
Panicattacks are also referred to as borderline states. They occur unpredictably and manifest as bouts of acute anxiety. Patients also complain of palpitations, cold sweats and a feeling of lack of air. You may experience dizziness, fainting, tremors, pressure changes.
The borderline state with panic occurs, as a rule, against the background of experienced stress, which means that the brain gives a signal to the body about danger. At the same time, to ensure active actions, hormones are released into the blood, which provide muscle tone and a rapid heartbeat.
Despite the fact that panic attacks cause great anxiety in people, they, according to experts, are not dangerous, although they require mandatory treatment in order not to develop dependence on this condition. And this, as a rule, leads to self-restraint and the addition of other fears.
Borderline has signs of various diseases
In addition to all the above signs, borderline mental states have another important feature - they are on the border between he alth and illness. That is, they are characterized by non-specific manifestations of the disease, which are included in the symptoms of various pathological processes - both mental, and somatic, and neurological. It can be asthenia (a state of increased fatigue, weakness and exhaustion), and autonomic dysfunction, and obsessive-compulsive disorders.
The initial symptoms of neurotic disorders in our medicine are also referred to as borderline conditions. howthe rule is:
- irritability;
- emotional instability;
- recurrent headache;
- sleep disorders.
All these symptoms require careful examination and diagnosis.
Borderline Centre: Help needed
People with this disorder need specialized psychological help, they do not have enough consultation with a psychologist. By the way, psychoanalysis is especially undesirable for such people, since the high anxiety to which they are prone can do a disservice and spur the development of a borderline state into a mental disorder.
For the treatment of patients in a multidisciplinary somatic facility, a borderline unit is often set up, in which people with suspected this disorder are placed. As a rule, these are patients who are in a state of psychological crisis with the risk of suicidal attempts or those who have committed them. They need a temporary exclusion of traumatic situations, as well as psychotherapeutic and drug treatment.
What lies behind the borderline conditions of newborns
Despite the external similarity of the definition, the borderline conditions of newborns have nothing to do with the ailments listed above. For babies who have just been born, these are natural physiological reactions that manifest the body's adaptation to existence in new conditions.
In pediatrics, thisthe condition is assessed as transient (transitional), lasting no more than 3-4 weeks and being physiologically normal. It, as a rule, disappears on its own by the end of the specified period, but in case of insufficient care, a violation of the adaptive capabilities of the baby, or under adverse environmental conditions, these processes can turn into pathological ones and require treatment.
How the borderline condition manifests in newborns
Borderline conditions of newborns are manifested in the physiological loss of their body weight in the first days after birth. It can decrease by 10% from the initial weight indicators. These phenomena also include changes in the condition of the skin of a child, which are expressed in its redness after rubbing from the original lubricant.
A third of newborns develop erythema toxicum, in which vesicles of serous fluid appear on the baby's skin, located in the joints, on the buttocks or on the chest.
Exposure to maternal estrogen hormones leads to a hormonal crisis, and intestinal restructuring and the passage of original feces are accompanied by dysbacteriosis, which disappears by the end of the first week of life.
A final word
The concept of borderline states, as you can see, can imply completely different manifestations: from transient physiological reactions of the body to new conditions of existence in newborns to a complex psychological state balancing between he alth anddisease.
But there is still a common feature here - the precariousness, the fragility of this process. It can become pathological at any time. So, you can’t take it lightly!
