How common are holiday mood triggers?

[Lily1965]

I always dread holidays such as Christmas because my mother gets into a "mood" a couple of weeks before the holiday. She lashes out at my father, and he is blamed for many of her problems. She also brings up how horrible her childhood was. According to my mother's brother, their childhood was not bad, and my mother's memories differ from her memories.

Is it common for holidays to trigger BPD episodes?

I also have a daughter with BPD, and she does not have the same holiday triggers, but she goes into a yearly slump in the fall of each year.

Are there cycles to BPD episodes?

Our objective is to better understand the struggles our child faces and to learn the skills to improve our relationship and provide a supportive environment and also improve on our own emotional responses, attitudes and effectiveness as a family leaders

[drained1996]

Holidays trigger many people... .not just BPD's.  Lots of emotion and interacting taking place during this time of year, both ingredients that can cause issues.

[GinaByTheC]

Hello. My name's GINA, and I dread Xmas because I know there will be a drama... .either from my BPD daughter, or from her dad.
We need to keep ourselves distracted through me: choosing recipes, putting up decorations, husband preparing a lot of the meals, and planning the food side of things.
Christmas is a time where the social media reminds a BPD sufferer how she cannot tick the boxes of "warm family relationships" or "gathering of good friends".
My daughter can start the day off well, but as time goes by, she can spiral down into a BPD vortex, and get angry, argumentative, prickly and defensive.
Alcohol consumption does not help.
Christmas is over, but we still have to get through New Year.