Personality and Mood Disorders Q 28
Which of the following assessment findings is seen in a client diagnosed with borderline personality disorder?
A. Abrasions in various healing stages.
B. Intermittent episodes of hypertension.
C. Alternating tachycardia and bradycardia.
D. Mild state of euphoria with disorientation.
Correct Answer: A. Abrasions in various healing stages.
Clients with borderline personality disorder tend to self-mutilate and have abrasions in various stages of healing. Unfortunately, self-mutilation is a common behavior, particularly among those with BPD. One study found that, among college students (not necessarily with BPD), attachment issues (insecure attachment, childhood separation, and emotional neglect) along with sexual abuse and dissociation, were significant risk factors for self-injury, and that the risk factors were gender-specific.
Option B: Under conditions of stress, people with BPD may experience changes in thinking, including paranoid thoughts (for example, thoughts that others may be trying to cause them harm), or dissociation (feeling spaced out, numb, or like they’re not really in their body).
Option C: BPD is associated with a tendency to engage in risky and impulsive behaviors, such as going on shopping sprees, drinking excessive amounts of alcohol or abusing drugs, engaging in promiscuous or risky sex, or binge eating. Also, people with BPD are more prone to engage in self-harming behaviors, such as cutting or burning and attempting suicide.
Option D: Emotional instability is a key feature of BPD. Individuals feel like they’re on an emotional roller coaster with quick mood shifts (i.e., going from feeling OK to feeling extremely down or blue within a few minutes). Mood changes can last from minutes to days and are often intense. Anger, anxiety, and overwhelming emptiness are common as well.