Commonly Confused: Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar Disorder

Borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder are both characterized, in part, by major mood swings. This partial similarity in mood shifts, going from an extremely high mood to a very low mood, causes many people, including some clinicians, to confuse the two disorders.

A brief review of the research literature will support the clinical assessment and diagnostic distinction between these two disorders. Differential diagnosis is important in the context of the treatment of eating disorders as both diagnoses are known to co-occur more often than in the general population. Findings fr...Read moreom our residential population indicate that individuals with eating disorders present with higher rates of bipolar disorder than the general population. We present recently published data on the occurrence of bipolar disorder in adult residential treatment at Monte Nido & Affiliates. Less...

Learning Objectives

• Assess relevant aspects of family history, developmental antecedents, and illness course to delineate each diagnosis.
• Define key differentiating factors in the differential diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder and borderline personality disorder.
• Distinguish phenomenological differences in mood states, personality style and relationship factors.

Learning Levels

• Beginner
• Intermediate

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

12:00 PM EST - 01:00 PM EST