Borderline personality disorder : a proposed workshop to empower psychiatric nurses and other mental health professionals -

Abstract

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is common and challenging for the nurses in particular and the health system as a whole. Patients with this disorder exhibit maladaptive behaviors that are considered difficult to manage. Their inability to regulate their emotions lead to dangerous chain of behaviors like self-mutilation, substance use, difficulty controlling anger, and complete suicide at times.The literature shows that mental health professional including nurses have a negative attitude towards these patients. They attribute their illness to an issue of deviance rather than self-control; they perceive them as being bad and not ill. In addition, nurses have reported that they believe special units are needed to provide adequate care. Unfortunately, in addition to the challenging behaviors of these patients, stigma is being a major barrier to a complete and satisfying life that everyone deserves.In this project, I am proposing a workshop to increase the knowledge of psychiatric nurses and other health professionals. The aim is to equip them with advanced borderline psychopathology and psychotherapeutic skills while maintaining a humanistic approach to patient care.