Emotionally unstable personality disorder

Chapter 26 Emotionally unstable personality disorder fEIJPDf Preparation Assessment Management Take-home message References Further reading Patient/Carer resources ... 

Chapter 4S Emotionally unstable personality disorder iEUPDl Preparation Assessment Management What if... ... 

EUPD emotionally unstable personality disorder ( borderline personality )... 

Emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD) Chronic mood instability mood swings occur within the space of hours. Other EUPD syn5)toms are present (Ch.26)... 

Mental illness screen for possible problems, e.g. delirium, depression, psychosis, adjusnnent disorder, emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD)/traits. 

Flistrionic personality disorder is similar to the syndrome that Liebowitz and Klein ( 259) have termed hysteroid dysphoria or atypical depression. MAOIs have proven to be very helpful in this condition and these data are reviewed in Chapter 7. As noted earlier, Rifkin et al. (242) also investigated the effects of antidepressants in patients with emotionally unstable personalities, a syndrome characterized by excitability and ineffectiveness when confronted with minor stress. This syndrome is primarily found in female adolescents whose moods consist of the following ... 

Antipsychotic medications, also known as neuroleptics or major tranquilizers, are used to treat schizophrenia and other disorders, such as mania, agitated depression, toxic psychoses, emotionally unstable personalities, and psychoses associated with old age. These medications affect primarily the reticular activating system, the limbic system, and the hypothalamus. 

The typical person is influenced by both an optimistic bias and an illusion of control (Frewer et al., 1994). When these are lost or compromised, panic can occur. While panic disorder can afflict an individual, panic also occurs as a collective phenomena. While it has been thought that emotional instability will lead some people to be more likely to panic, this is not always found. However, people who are emotionally unstable are more likely to attach importance to information provided during the crises than more emotionally stable individuals (Verbeke and Van Kenhove, 2002). Furthermore, some people are more likely to believe they are sick or affected than others. Feldman et al. (1999) examined the panic predisposition of people based on their classification by the big five personality factors. People were inoculated with a common cold virus, and those who were classified as neurotic were more likely to report unfounded illness and more symptoms than other groups. In contrast to this, openness to experience was associated with reporting unfounded symptoms in those with verifiable colds, whereas conscientiousness was associated with reporting unfounded illness in those who were not ill (Feldman et al, 1999). 

Clnster B includes the so-called dramatic and emotional disorders. This group is comprised of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), borderline personality disorder (BPD), narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), and histrionic personality disorder (HPD). In each of these disorders, the person is attention seeking, is emotionally unstable, and finds it difhcnlt to conform to social norms. Unlike the odd and eccentric Cluster A patients and the anxious and withdrawn Cluster C patients, those with Cluster B personality disorders seldom escape clinical attention for very long. The disruptive nature of these personality disorders often leads them to psychiatric or legal intervention no later than their early adult life. 

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