Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a serious mental health condition that can be challenging to treat. BPD involves persistent patterns of instability, emotions, and behavior that can impact every aspect of your life. Treating BPD can be difficult because there are so many different facets to the disorder, which are often intertwined with one another. That’s why learning how to manage borderline traits is so important for recovery effectively. In this article, we’ll discuss seven tips for treating borderline personality disorder that you might find helpful if you’re looking to get started on your healing journey. Even if you think you don’t have borderline traits, these tips can help you in feeling more confident about seeking help for BPD.
Journaling is key to recovery
Journaling can be incredibly helpful for recovery if you struggle with borderline traits. Many people with BPD don’t journal because they are worried about how it will make them seem to others. But journaling can help you process your thoughts and feelings, which can help manage intense emotions and get your life in order.
If you’re looking to journal, consider journaling about what’s happening in your life and why you are feeling the way you do. Journaling can help you explore your emotions and gain insights into your thoughts and feelings. This can be helpful both while you’re still struggling with BPD and after you’ve been in therapy for a while. Journaling can also help you process what’s happening in your life when you’re not in therapy (e.g., if you’re feeling sad while you’re at school but don’t know why).
Journaling can help with both positive and negative emotions. It can also help you explore your past and future, which can help you feel less anxious about the present moment. Journaling can help you process emotions, explore your thoughts and feelings, and gain insight into your past and future. Journaling can be a great way to stay engaged in therapy as you’re actively healing from BPD.
Set SMART goals for your therapy journey
As you begin therapy, it’s a good idea to set goals for yourself that are SMART. SMART goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely. It’s also good to be specific about what you want to get out of therapy and what you want to get out of your daily life as well. A good goal to start with is to be able to recognize when you are in an intense emotional state and have a plan for how to manage your feelings.
For example, you may want to have a plan for what to do if you find yourself getting tearful or angry. You may also want to have a plan for how to stay safe and avoid hurting others if you find yourself in an intense emotional state.
Get proper sleep to help with anxiety and mood stabilization
Anxiety and mood instability are common symptoms of BPD. BPD can also be a condition that is worsened by sleep problems. Sleep problems can also change depending on your diet, which can make them harder to treat. While it’s not possible to “make” yourself have enough sleep, it is possible to make sleep a priority in your life. Sleep is essential for both physical and emotional health. A healthy sleep schedule can help you feel more stable, have more focus and concentration, and be less anxious and depressed.
To have a night of better sleep, you may want to try eating healthy, avoiding caffeine and alcohol close to bedtime, turning off electronics, and taking a relaxing bath or shower. You may also want to consider seeing a sleep specialist if you’re sleeping very poorly or not at all.
Exercise to help with impulsivity and depression
Exercising can help with impulsivity and depression. Impulsivity is the tendency to act without thinking, whereas depression is the tendency to feel sad, empty, or hopeless. Many people with borderline traits experience both impulsivity and depression. Exercise can help with both impulsivity and depression by increasing your feel-good chemicals, such as serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins. Exercise can also help you feel more in the present moment and less preoccupied with the past or future.
Exercise can be a great way to regulate your mood when you are experiencing a large amount of anxiety or depression. If you are struggling with impulsivity, you may want to try exercising in a way that avoids impulsive behaviors. For example, you may want to focus on breathing to avoid impulsive thoughts while exercising.
Encourage self-care to build stability
Self-care is essential for building stability because it helps you to develop a more healthy relationship with yourself. Self-care can help you to regulate your emotions, calm down, and get perspective on your feelings. When you are actively engaging in self-care, you are also engaging in activities that help make you feel more connected to others. For example, engaging in activities like journaling, spending time with friends and family, or practicing meditation can help you to feel less lonely and more connected to others.
Self-care should be about you, not about external pressures or social expectations. It should be something that you do for yourself, and that feels right for you. If you feel like something is missing from your self-care routine, that’s okay. It’s important to shift your mindset so that you are focusing more on self-care than on what you have to do or what others are saying.
Don’t hesitate to reach out for help.
If you’re struggling with borderline traits, it can be easy to tell yourself that you “should” be able to handle it. But that’s not the best way to approach BPD. If you’re struggling and don’t feel like you have a plan for how to handle your emotions and impulsivity, it’s okay to reach out for help. It’s also okay to feel like you need help. If you’re feeling overwhelmed or like you need some extra support in your recovery, that’s okay too. There are plenty of resources available for people in need.
Don’t hesitate to reach out for help if you need it. There are plenty of resources available for people in need. There are also plenty of support groups, online articles, and therapy approaches that can support your healing journey.
Complete a time audit of your days to understand what you are doing
If you’re interested in learning more about your daily patterns and habits, you may want to consider completing a time audit. A time audit involves tracking your daily activities and logging what you did and how you felt during each activity. This way, you can get a better understanding of what you are doing and what your daily patterns consist of. The process of tracking your daily activities can help you to gain insight into your thought patterns, impulsivity, and emotions. It can also help you to identify how you can change your patterns. If you are interested in tracking your daily activities, consider using an app like Toggl or logging all of your activities by hand. You may also want to consider meeting with a professional who can help you track your patterns and identify ways to change them.