Dr. Roxanne Dryden-Edwards is an adult, child, and adolescent psychiatrist. She is a former Chair of the Committee on Developmental Disabilities for the American Psychiatric Association, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, and Medical Director of the National Center for Children and Families in Bethesda, Maryland.
Dr. Shiel received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from the University of Notre Dame. There he was involved in research in radiation biology and received the Huisking Scholarship. After graduating from St. Louis University School of Medicine, he completed his Internal Medicine residency and Rheumatology fellowship at the University of California, Irvine. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.
As per the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Treatment Revision)
definition , in order to qualify for the diagnosis of BPD, an individual must have at least five of the following symptoms:
Unstable self-image, in that they may drastically and rapidly change in the
way they perceive their own likes, dislikes, strengths, weaknesses, goals, and
intrinsic value as a person
Unstable relationships, in that individuals with this disorder rapidly,
drastically, and often frequently change from seeing another person as nearly
perfect (idealizing) to seeing the other person as being virtually worthless
(devaluing)
Unstable emotions (affects), in that the sufferer experiences marked, rapid
changes in feelings (for example, severe anger, joy, euphoria, anxiety,
including panic attacks and depression)
that are stress related, even if the stresses may be seen as minor
or negligible to others
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a mental disorder that belongs to
the group of mental illnesses called personality disorders. Therefore, like
other personality disorders, it is characterized by a consistent pattern of
thinking, feeling, and interacting with others and with the world that tends to
cause significant problems for the sufferer. Specifically, BPD tends to be associated with a
pattern of unstable ways of seeing oneself, feeling, behaving, and relating to
others that markedly interferes with the individual's ability to function. Also, as with
other personality disorders, the person is usually an adolescent or adult before
they can be assessed as meeting full symptom criteria for BPD.
Historically, BPD has been thought to be a set of symptoms that include both
mood problems (neuroses) and distortions of reality (psychosis), and therefore
was thought to be on the borderline between mood problems and schizophrenia.
However, it is now understood that while the symptoms of BPD may straddle those symptom complexes, this illness is more closely related to other personality disorders in terms of how it may develop and occur within families. Contrary to what the medical community thought in the past, BPD is now understood to occur equally in men and women in general, while primarily in women in groups of people who are receiving mental-health treatment (treatment populations). The frequency with which this disorder occurs is also thought to be considerably higher than previously thought, affecting nearly 6% of adults over the course of a lifetime.
What other disorders often occur with BPD?
While men with BPD are more likely to also have a substance-use disorder. BPD is more likely to be associated with eating disorders symptoms in women. In adolescents,
BPD tends to co-occur with more anxious and odd personality disorders like
schizotypal and passive aggressive personality disorder, respectively. Adults
who have antisocial personality disorder, formerly also called sociopaths, may be more likely to also have BPD. Interestingly, even people who have some symptoms (traits) of BPD but do not meet full diagnostic criteria for the disorder can experience both traits of BPD and narcissistic personality disorder.
Although there has been some controversy as to whether or not BPD is truly
its own disorder or a variation of bipolar disorder, research supports the
theory that BPD, like virtually every medical or other mental-health disorder can
appear (present) in nearly as many unique and complex ways as there are people
who have it. In other words, some individuals with BPD will have that disorder
alone, while others will have it in combination with bipolar or another mental
disorder. Still others will appear to have BPD but really qualify for the
diagnosis of bipolar disorder and visa versa.
BPD is not recognized worldwide. It is most closely diagnosed as emotionally
unstable personality disorder in the International Classification of Disease, or
ICD-10. Although countries like China and India recognize mental disorders that
have some symptoms in common with BPD, its existence is not formally recognized.
Anxiety is a feeling of apprehension and fear characterized by physical symptoms. Anxiety disorders are serious medical illnesses that affect approximately 19 million American adults.
Stress occurs when forces from the outside world impinge on the individual. Stress is a normal part of life. However, over-stress, can be harmful. There is now speculation, as well as some evidence, that points to the abnormal stress responses as being involved in causing various diseases or conditions.
Depression is an illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts and affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way one feels about oneself, and the way one thinks about things. The principal types of depression are major depression, dysthymia, and bipolar disease (also called manic-depressive disease).
Alcoholism is a disease that includes alcohol craving and continued drinking despite repeated alcohol-related problems, such as losing a job or getting into trouble with the law.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a psychiatric condition, can develop after any catastrophic life event. Symptoms include nightmares, flashbacks, sweating, rapid heart rate, detachment, amnesia, sleep problems, irritability, and exaggerated startle response. Treatment may involve psychotherapy, group support, and medication.
Suicide is the process of intentionally ending one's own life. Approximately 1 million people worldwide commit suicide each year, and 10 million to 20 million attempt suicide annually.
Bipolar disorder (or manic depression) is a mental illness characterized by depression, mania, and severe mood swings. Treatment may incorporate mood stabilizer medications, antidepressants, and psychotherapy.
Drug addiction is a chronic disease that causes drug-seeking behavior and drug use despite negative consequences to the user and those around him. Though the initial decision to use drugs is voluntary, changes in the brain caused by repeated drug abuse can affect a person's self-control and ability to make the right decisions and increase the urge to take drugs. Drug abuse and addiction are preventable.
Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) has many symptoms, signs, and causes. Therapy is one treatment option for antisocial personality disorder. It is closely related to other personality disorders (PD), such as borderline personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder.
Alcohol is the most frequently used drug by American teenagers. Teens that drink are more likely to drive under the influence, have unprotected sex, and use other drugs, like marijuana, cocaine, and heroin. Symptoms of alcohol abuse in teens include lying, breaking curfew, becoming verbally or physically abusive toward others, making excuses, smelling like alcohol, having mood swings, and stealing.
Child abuse falls into four categories: neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse. There are certain risk factors that predispose a child to being abused and an adult to abusing a child. Risk factors for children are age, children with learning disabilities, adopted and foster children, children with congenital abnormalities, and a past history of abuse. Parental risk factors include young or single parents, those who suffered abuse themselves, adults with substance-abuse problems or psychiatric disease, and those who didn't graduate from high school.
Mental illness is any disease or condition affecting the brain that influence the way a person thinks, feels, behaves, and/or relates to others. Mental illness is caused by heredity, biology, psychological trauma and environmental stressors.
About 5 million children and adolescents in the U.S. suffer from a serious mental illness such as eating disorders, anxiety disorders, disruptive behavior disorders, pervasive development disorders, elimination disorders, learning disorders, schizophrenia, tic disorders, and mood disorders. Symptoms of mental illness include frequent outbursts of anger, hyperactivity, fear of gaining weight, excessive worrying, frequent temper tantrums, and hearing voices that aren't there. Treatment may involve medication, psychotherapy, and creative therapies.
Children's health is focused on the well-being of children from conception through adolescence. There are many aspects of children's health, including growth and development, illnesses, injuries, behavior, mental illness, family health and community health.
Munchausen syndrome is a factitious disorder and attention-seeking syndrome in which an individual pretends to have physical or psychological symptoms in order to gain attention. Symptoms and signs vary from heart symptoms, chest pain, and fainting to ear problems and hallucinations. Sufferers tend to seek help from multiple care providers, seem overly pleased at being subjected to tests and procedures, and have vague symptoms that are inconsistent with test results. There is no particular treatment approach that is consistently effective in treating Munchausen syndrome.
Teenagers recognize that they are developmentally between child and adult. Teen health prevention includes maintaining a healthy diet, exercising regularly, preventing injuries and screening annually for potential health conditions that could adversely affect teenage health.
Mental health is more than just being free of a mental illness. It is more
of an optimal level of thinking, feeling, and relating to others.
Mentally healthy individuals tend to have better medical health,
productivity, and social relationships.
Mental illness refers to all of the diagnosable mental disorders and is
characterized by abnormalities in thinking, feelings, or behaviors.
Some of the most common types of mental illness include anxiety,
depressive, behavioral, and substance-abuse disorders.
There is no single cause for mental illness. Rather, it is the result of a
complex group of genetic, psychological, and environmental factors.
While everyone experiences sadness, anxiety, irritability, and moodiness at
times, moods, thoughts, behaviors, or use of substances that interfere with a
person's ability to function well physically, socially, at work, school, o...
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