Peer Reviewed
Feature Article Psychology and mental health
CPD
Complete 1.5 CPD hours

Bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder or both?

Philip M Boyce, Frances Wilson
Go To
CPD
Abstract
Getting the diagnosis of bipolar disorder or borderline personality disorder right is important to ensure that patients receive the correct treatment for their condition and not a treatment that could potentially be harmful in the long term.
Key Points
  • Bipolar disorder is a recurrent mood disorder with generally good functioning between episodes. Mood stabilisers are the mainstay of treatment for patients with this condition.
  • Borderline personality disorder is a long-term disorder characterised by affective instability, with recurrent depressive episodes and chronically poor functioning. The mainstay of treatment for this condition is psychotherapeutic therapies.
  • The two conditions can be difficult to distinguish but accurate diagnosis is crucial to the patient receiving the most effective, evidence-based treatment.
  • The key to making the correct diagnosis is in careful history taking with attention paid to intermorbid functioning and family history.
  • Comorbidity of these conditions can occur and makes diagnosis and the effective delivery of treatment more difficult.
Get full access
Subscribe for full access to all articles
Buy this article

Single article purchases are temporarily unavailable due to site maintenance.

If you would like to purchase an article during this time, please email us at [email protected] with the article details and we'll assist you directly. We'll also let you know when online purchasing is available again.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Already a subscriber?