She’s in her second course of DBT and it’s pretty life-changing, but there’s much work to be done still. Regarding self-harm, I think it doesn’t need to be defined specifically as cutting, as much of my daughter’s self-harm is in saying and doing things that set her back on her progress and jeopardize her relationships.

Looking forward to reading more of your blog.

I don’t think you can separate them completely though. There’s a high incidence of BPD that presents with self-harm as a symptom. Certainly self harming isn’t grounds for a diagnosis in and of itself.

The point I’m making though is, however you define any particular disorder, it’s a lot more prevalent than the general public probably thinks.

Not to mention that there are a whole lot more kids at risk to themselves and others than may be immediately apparent to society at large.

Thanks for your feedback – and love your blog.

Self Harm and BPD are too completely separate areas all though once upon a time if you did self harm you would be immediately diagnosed with BPD. Now it is just one criteria out of the nine. As for diagnosing someone so young with a disorder when there personality is not yet fully formed seems to be a bit on the irresponsible side. A number of the criteria for BPD can be seen as typical teenage behavior, the only difference is one group will grow out of it. Take care

Actually… once they’re in school, kids pick up more habits from their friends and media than anything else… so Rich, will you be writing a screenplay or two anytime soon??