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Children, Parents, or Relatives with BPD => Parent, Sibling, or In-law Suffering from BPD => Topic started by: SlyQQ on December 21, 2014, 06:26:14 AM



Title: What symptoms appear to get better with age?
Post by: SlyQQ on December 21, 2014, 06:26:14 AM
I was hoping someone might throw their hat in the ring as to what symptoms appear to get better with age the obvious one is of course impulsivity

there are very few extensive studies in this area an also the normal flaws associated with any psychotherapy assesment I was of the understanding the dsm makes some reference to improvements with age for BPD but was wondering if this had been adjusted for the fact the highly impulsive would already be dead from suicide drug overdose car crashes etc once a certain age was reched an thus skew studies?


Title: Re: Flaws associated with any psychotherapy assesment
Post by: Kwamina on December 21, 2014, 08:14:13 AM
Hi there SlyQQ

I was of the understanding the dsm makes some

reference to improvements with age for BPD

but was wondering if this had been adjusted for the

fact the highly impulsive would already be dead

from suicide drug overdose car crashes etc once a certain

age was reched an thus skew studies?

I understand your point here. If studies would only look at the people with BPD that had actually reached a certain age without taking into account the ones that didn't, this would influence the validity or generalizability of the research results. It is indeed important to consider if the research sample is truly representative of the entire population of people with BPD.

I was hoping someone might throw their hat in the ring as to

what symptoms appear to get better with age

the obvious one is of course impulsivity

I'm gonna talk from my personal experiences here. I am 33 now and as my uBPD mom ages (over 70 now), I have seen periods of calm but beneath the surface the 'old' her was still always there. Five years ago was one of the worst years I experienced with her and I was very surprised because I thought she was mellowing down but boy was I wrong  The problem in my family situation was my uBPD older sister who is a major source of stress for my mother. This however doesn't keep my mother from seeing her as the all-good child and always portraying my sister as the 'victim'.

My mother is much calmer when my sister isn't around. I would say my mother's preferred state is that of a 'Waif', whereas my sister's preferred state is more that of a 'Queen'. With both of them, the 'Witch' is just around the corner and when the two of them are together, they really reinforce each other's bad behavior.

There were times that I really thought my mother had mellowed down, but analyzing things now it's more that her behavior changed somewhat without actually getting better. As I got older and more independent, she changed her tactics. Problem with both my mom and sis is that they do not in any way acknowledge that there's something wrong with them and therefor don't seek help. Even when my mother was shortly being treated by a psychiatrist, she portrayed herself as the victim without acknowledging how totally dysfunctional her behavior is.

If there aren't any stressors around, I would definitely say that now that my mother is getting older her normal state is somewhat calmer. However, when there are stressors around, the old her immediately resurfaces. And since my uBPD sis is around a lot at my mother's place and calls her nearly every day complaining about 'how mean she's treated at each and every job she has ever had', there unfortunately are always a lot of stressors around.


Title: Re: What symptoms appear to get better with age?
Post by: enlighten me on December 21, 2014, 09:14:40 AM
I have read on sites foe pwBPD that sometimes the symptoms decrease with age. Also post menopause, historectomy and HRT. It doesnt always happen and I suppose as its a spectrum disorder then it will affect different people diffrrently. I know my exs couldnt tolerate the contraceptive pill so estrogen had an effect on them. Others here have stated that their exs were normal during pregnancy where mine was far from it.