
Self-care for borderline personality disorder
There are several things you can do to help yourself if you have a borderline personality disorder (BPD).
- Talk to your GP or practice nurse about how you're feeling.
- Avoid recreational drugs and alcohol.
- Try to keep a regular sleep pattern.
- Read about physical health with a mental illness or addiction. Look after your physical health by eating well, quitting smoking and keeping active.
- Ask your GP or psychiatric team to write a care plan for you. This can include information about what kind of treatment works for you and who to contact if your symptoms get worse or if you're in a crisis.
- Learn about talking therapy. This aims to teach people to reduce unhelpful thoughts, recognise worsening symptoms, improve problem solving abilities and learn when to get help. It also aims to reduce stress and distress in families.
Family Support
Parenting when you have BPD can be really challenging, and your kids may find life difficult at times. These videos from the Australian BPD Foundation may be helpful.
The websites listed on Overview of borderline personality disorder also have information that might help your family support you.
On the next page: Getting help for borderline personality disorder
Written by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Page created May 2020.
Sources
The information in this section comes from the following sources, some of which may be clinically complex or not available to the general public
Mental Health Foundation – Borderline personality disorder, retrieved December 2017.
Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Psychiatrists – Borderline personality disorder (https://www.yourhealthinmind.org/mental-illnesses-disorders/bpd), retrieved December 2017.
Image and embedded video sources
Man showing different emotions image from Shutterstock (image ID 198373892). November 2022.
Two women walking together image from mychillybin (image ID 102544_417). May 2020.
Woman showing different emotions image from Shutterstock (image ID 277529048). November 2022.
Woman talking to counsellor image from Shutterstock (image ID 305024918). December 2018.
Page reference: 755068
Review key: HIBPD-503517