-mindfulness meditation training can help people with BPD to feel less “stuck” in their emotions, and less judgemental of the emotions and themselves
-mindfulness meditation-staying in the present moment without judging others and being very deliberate
-you work on being aware of things happening outside of yourself
-mindfulness is a concept that comes from the Buddhist spiritual tradition
-people with BPD not only experience intense emotions, but become “stuck” in these emotions, and judge themselves and the emotions, unfortunately this can end up making the emotion feel even more intense. judgemental thoughts can add other emotions to the mix
-if you experience symptoms of BPD, you may feel like every day is a struggle against your emotional ups and downs
-feeling sad, lonely, and depressed-confide in someone you trust, look after your physical health and hygiene, find activities that you enjoy and find relaxing, create a resilience list-watch tv, massage, write negative feelings on a piece of paper and tear it up, listen to an uplifting song, keep a mood diary, reach out to a mental health professional
-feeling anxious, tense, and panicky-anxiety occurs in times of fear which include stress, embarassment, criticism, and rejection. in a period of intense fear, panic attacks can appear unexpectedly and suddenly. what you can do to get through-confide in someone you trust, look after your physical health, hot drinks, practice breathing exercises, do a reality checklist-list of everything that marks where you are right now, take warm bath or shower, acknowledge your symptoms, keep a diary, reach out to a mental health professional
-dissociation and spaced out-dissociation becomes a problem when it interferes with your daily life or leads to risky behavior, to get through it-look after your physical health, keep a journal, visualize safe places, practice grounding techniques-chew a piece of ginger or chili, clap your hands, drink ice cold water, walk barefoot, do a reality checklist-write down or say time and date, notify those around you what to do in a crisis
-angry outbursts and prolonged frustrations-anger is a normal human emotion, however, if uncontrolled or persistent, it can be destructive and this can be frustrating and frightening for you and those around you, what you can do to get through it-identify triggers, look for warning signs in your body, give yourself time to think, try “cool down” techniques-breathe slowly, rip up newspaper, hit a pillow, use your imagination, control your thinking by cognitive restructuring, problem-solving, better communication, humor, practice anger management skills, eat, sleep, and exercise well
-emotional distress-people with BPD spend a lot of energy fighting emotional dysregulation, accepting your emotional responses means to stop fighting, avoiding, or supressing or denying your feelings, and therefore reducing their power of overwhelming your rational thinking, observe your emotions from the outside, watch your emotions come and go, tune into bodily sensations that come with emotions, tell yourself that you accept the emotions you feel, remind yourself that just because you’re feeling something dosen’t mean it’s reality
-effective communication-expressing yourself to others can sometimes be challenging, reading verbal and non-verbal language can be difficult with BPD, practice beginning with being clear and open about your own thoughts and feelings to maintain good relationships with others
The BPD Group 