Recovery from BPD

What are the Chances? There is a lot of information and misinformation out there about recovery from BPD. In fact the DSM-IV itself indicates that approximately half of people who are diagnosed with BPD have some level of recovery within a year. Other Internet sites indicate that the chances of recovery might be as low or lower than one in a hundred. In order to understand such statements it is important to know a few things about the people making such statements.

The most significant piece of information about the DSM in this respect is that it is primarily used by mental health care professionals. Mental heath professionals work within a larger system, and more and more are working in the context of HMOs. If the DSM were to say that "BPD remains largely uncurable" then it would be very difficult for these health care professionals to collect money from insurance companies or HMOs. For this reason, in fact, many therapists void a diagnosis of BPD.

For a BP to "get better", they have to be very special people. They must at least do the following:

1. Acknowledge that they have BPD, accept and work with the diagnosis.

2. Be highly motivated to get better.

3. Work hard at it.

Since most BPs can’t get past the first step, their ability to get better is very low. If the BP in your life has already passed the point of denying that he’s part of the problem then there is room to hold out some hope. Still not a lot, but some hope... if he denys the diagnosis and maintains that all the problems in his life are caused by others, (which is part of the diagnosis) then there is really VERY little hope indeed.

As for the one in a hundred figures, these come from experience rather than scientific studies. In our experience at BPD411, very few BPs make a very marked improvement in behavior. Things that contribute to this are that most of the BPs we work with are High Functioning. Thus even getting a diagnosis is very difficult. Low Functioning BPs may in fact have a higher rate of recovery to some level than we have experienced with the high functioning BPs we deal with. The other contributing factor is that if a BP were to get better, the participation of the Non in a group like ours would be greatly reduced. It is also difficult to define "recovery" from a disorder such as BPD. If recovery in the context of a relationship such as marriage were to be defined as having a nurturing, supportive relationship with the BP in your life, then the recovery rate would be very low indeed.

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Disclaimer: The information on this site (http://www.bpd411.org) is based on personal experiences of the authors and members of our e-mail mailing list. It is NOT meant to replace professional advice or take the place of counseling, therapy or additional personal research.