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Mental Health BPD and Geneticism

ChemicallyEnhanced

ChemicallyEnhanced

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Apr 29, 2018
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How strong do you guys think the genetic component of Borderline Personality Disorder is? Does anyone have it and also have a family member with it?
I have very severe BPD and while my mother has never been diagnosed with it based on her behaviours etc, especially when I was younger, she definitely meets the diagnostic criteria. She's nothing like as bad as I am, but there's no question she has it. And HER mother (my maternal grandmother) - while she was an excellent grandmother and always lovely to me - very definitely very "off" and from stories my mum has told me about her childhood, my grandmother absolutely was Borderline. Again, not as bad as me, but worse than my mum. To add to this, my grandmother had a very hard life (which probably triggered the Borderline that she was genetically predisposed to), and was therefor unstable when my mum was a kid, possibly causing HER BDP to manifest. Unrelated to either of the, I have also had a very, very hard life.
I never met her, but from what I've heard, my maternal great-grandmother was extremely mentally unstable (I believe she was institutionalized for a while in the late 40s).
 
Borderline Personality Disorder is definitely one of the mental disorders that, for it to be expressed in an individual it has to have both the genetic AND the environmental factors. What I mean by this is that yes, there is a genetic link, but a person won't actually develop BPD unless they have the environmental factors as well e.g. childhood trauma, bullying, poverty, bad parental experiences, and other stress factors.

But yes, there is definitely a genetic link.
 
Mostly trauma, i believe. It seems to be a matter of maladaptive responses due to overload of fear and lack of love. Trait vulnerability may factor in, but my hunch is that almost anyone would be broken by that kind of tragedy.
 
I think, as @Mjäll, that enviromental crap it's more important than genetics.
I think there's some kind of "epigenetic" component to it, some triggers, and also, I think that most people who develops it's smarter than average and SPECIALLY much more sensitive in terms of aesthetic performance and sensitivity. Future artists, lifelong literature readers... and so one, are those who could be more affected, someone with little perspective and inclination towards the nuance, towards the limits and hidden corners of emotion won't develop BPD.
But, at the same time... there's something pretty dark on it, that is, as the rest of cluster B: lack of empathy (firstly towards themselves, and then towards others, as a consequence).
 
BPDs relationship between environmental factors and genetics are symbiotic. Although there's no direct gene responsible there's definitely a genetic impact of vulnerability to developing it, trauma and a bad environment are going to have a much greater chance of causing BPD in someone susceptible to it. However someone with a susceptibility to it in a good environment isn't going to be guaranteed not to develop symptoms. Ive met many people who have it with one of their parents or grandparents having it as well with fluctuations in severity. I'm under the impression that we just don't fully understand the genetic mechanism for it.
 
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