6 percent of teenagers suffer from borderline

Six percent of adolescents suffer from borderline.

(02.07.2010) About six percent of adolescents between the ages of 14 and 18 suffer from the mental illness "borderline". The disease results mostly from traumatic experiences such as sexual abuse in family structures.

A frightening number: About six percent of adolescents suffer from the mental illness „Borderline“. This was pointed out by the German Society for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Neurology (DGPPN) during the first international congress on borderline personality disorder in Berlin.

Strong mood swings are a major feature of the Boderline.
In a borderline disorder, young people suffer from constant emotional mood swings. For this reason one speaks also of a personality disorder. Those affected change their emotional condition from one moment to another. For bystanders, these behaviors sometimes seem paradoxical and cause incomprehension. The patients also suffer from a "dichotomous thought pattern", i. they try to classify the world in a "black and white picture". Thus, people are either strongly idealized and abyss deeply rejected and hated. The image of fellow human beings can vary greatly and in each case from the daily constitution of the patient.

Other mental disorders play an important role.
A Bordeline disease is often associated with other mental disorders. Patients sometimes suffer from dissociative identity disorders, depression, suicidality, as well as self-injurious behavior (e.g., "scratches" on the arms). Borderline patients suffer from a very negative self-image and regularly self-injure themselves. Some try to quasi self-meditation with the use of drugs to calm down.

Reasons: Often sexual abuse of children in the family.
According to the scientists of the DGPPN, the main reason for a borderline disease is usually the sexual abuse in the family system. For example, around 60 percent of young patients have spoken of serious sexual abuse in their close family environment. But serious neglect of the child can lead to the outbreak of a Boderline disorder.

Genetic factors favor an outbreak of the disease.
Nevertheless, the long-term abuse of children is not a sufficiently general explanation for the onset of a borderline disorder. Researchers also suspect a genetic link. After all, in 40 percent of patients a sexual abuse played no or no essential role. The researchers also warn in this context against stigmatization of those affected. However, there is a broad consensus among psychiatrists that a major cornerstone of borderline is laid early childhood. For example, childhood social environmental factors such as sexual abuse, neglect, and violence play a major role in the development and outbreak of borderline disorder.

Therapies are often not promising.
Overall, about 2 percent of the total population suffer from borderline. The proportion of women outweighs 70 percent. Therapies can be successful, however, it is due to the indicators of borderline diseases that patients often discontinue therapies. According to estimates of physicians, up to 70 percent of sufferers break off therapy. This almost completely prevents a recovery. If the relationship between the patient and the therapist harmonizes, the chances of successful therapy should be set much higher. (Sb)