Cultural Representations of Borderline Personality Disorder

Abstract

Background/ObjectiveBorderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is characterized by unstable interpersonal relationships, impulsivity, and self-harm. There are many distinct stressors that predispose individuals to develop BPD or engage in self-harm behaviors. The objective of this systematic review was to compare methods of self-harm and psychological stressors in BPD across different cultures.MethodsA PubMed database search was conducted with the goal of capturing all articles (n = 22) that discussed methods of self-harm in BPD in any culture. Data extracted from the articles included methods of self-harm, psychological stressors, sample size, rurality, geographical location, and proportion of males to females.ResultsKey differences were noted in the methods of self-harm. Eastern nations (n = 5) reported higher rates of self-poisoning (60%) than Western nations (11%). Western nations (n = 9) reported higher rates of skin-mutilating behavior (100%) than Eastern nations (80%). Two of the articles included participants from rural settings, one in the Sundarban region of India and the other in Mississippi. Notably, the Sundarban region reported the highest rate of poisoning (93%) whereas the Mississippi region reported high rates of skin mutilation. Differences were also noted in psychological stressors as the rates of interpersonal problems were higher in Western than in Eastern nations.ConclusionsAdditional research should be conducted into the presentation of BPD in different cultures. An improved understanding of the cultural presentations of BPD could improve diagnosis and treatment in various populations.

Childhood Trauma as a Risk Factor for High Risk Behaviors in Adolescents with Borderline Personality Disorder

“…Infurna et al note that BPD patients reported less care from their parents and also increased levels of intrusiveness and excessive control from both parents. A meta-analysis study by Steele et al revealed that maladaptive parenting, including such features as rejection, little warmth, little maternal satisfaction with the offspring, antagonism and rough punishment, impaired maternal communications, negative emotions declared by the mother, and maternal over-involvement and inconsistency constitute psychosocial risks for the incidence of BPD ( 46 , 47 ). These findings, however, are not essentially consistent – some previous researches found no significant association between early onset of BPD and parenting style ( 47 ).…”

The effect of individual characteristics on susceptibility to aggressive and/or intimidating approaches: quantifying probability pathways by creating a victimization model

“…mental disorders) and cross-cultural differences in the presentation of factor and symptom expression (e.g. BPD) (Munson et al, 2022 ), we included only Western populations. Moreover, the data necessary for Bayesian networking appeared to be primarily reported within the literature on sexual abuse and bullying.…”