BPD And Alcoholism as a Dual Diagnosis

Understanding the BPD Condition

BPD will sometimes be incorrectly labeled as simply a sign of a character flaw or weakness. That’s not the case. This is a medical condition like any other, and it can be effectively treated with a variety of tactics.

There is no need for shame or blame when it comes to problems with emotional control, outsized persistent feelings, dramatic mood swings, and other symptoms of BPD. They are just symptoms of a medical condition, and can be improved as that condition is treated by professionals.

What is the Definition of an Alcohol Use Disorder?

The condition that is formally known as alcohol use disorder is often simply referred to as alcoholism. This is a chronic condition that comes back to an inability to control alcohol consumption despite negative consequences. When alcohol use disorder takes hold in a person’s life, it often delivers a number of harmful outcomes, including declining physical health, mental health, and relationships.

It’s common for alcoholism to start out as little more than casual drinking. Over time, you might start to turn to alcohol as a form of self medication, seeing it as a coping mechanism for helping you get through the difficult parts of life.

Over time, tolerance for alcohol will gradually increase, meaning you will need to drink more and more to get the same result. Then, when you stop drinking even for a short period of time, withdrawal symptoms can quickly appear. This can lead you to drink even more to get rid of the symptoms, and the cycle continues downward from there.

Why Do BPD and Alcoholism Often Occur Together?

It is certainly not a coincidence that people with borderline personality disorder also often struggle with alcohol misuse. These two often overlap, so having both in the same patient will sound familiar to any experienced treatment provider. Since BPD delivers intense emotions that can be hard to manage, alcohol is often utilized as a way to deal with those emotions in the short term.

By drinking, many symptoms of BPD can be masked, at least for a little while. Both BPD and alcohol misuse play with emotions in different ways, so mixing the two is a dangerous combination that can lead to a dark, dangerous place if you don’t make finding treatment a top priority.

The Role of Emotional Dysregulation

Emotional dysregulation lies at the heart of BPD. It also plays a key role in the development of alcohol misuse, which is why it is such an important topic in this discussion. When someone has BPD, they generally face feelings that are overwhelming and hard to control. Even relatively minor stressors can trigger intense reactions and lead to feelings of anger, sadness, and anxiety.

When someone with BPD doesn’t have effective coping strategies in place, they may wind up turning to alcohol as a way to deal with their emotional stress. This is an appealing choice because it usually works well at the start. Someone who is feeling overwhelmed by emotions can have those emotions numbed by alcohol use, and they’ll feel better.

Of course, as you already know, that improvement is very temporary. In the bigger picture, alcohol use only serves to worsen emotional instability. When the effects of alcohol use wear off, the emotions usually come back with even greater intensity. So, you may return to alcohol to numb those fresh feelings, and a downward spiral is put into action. So, learning how to deal with emotions in ways that are healthier than alcohol use is a key component of recovery.

Impulsivity and Risk-Taking Behavior

People who are affected by BPD also struggle with impulsivity in many cases. If you are dealing with this condition, you might find yourself making rash, sudden decisions without really considering the consequences. This pattern tends to get even worse when you are in a moment of emotional distress or crisis.

This ties into alcoholism because a spontaneous decision to drink can escalate into a pattern of heavy drinking over time. Not only may it lead you to heavy drinking, but you also might start drinking in risky situations, engage in binge drinking, and more. There are always some risks associated with drinking, and the symptoms of BPD only tend to make it riskier.

Another factor to think about here is how impulsive behavior can impact your efforts to get away from drinking entirely. Even if you are making good progress on recovery from alcohol addiction, a moment of impulsive decision making can set you back. So, building skills through therapy and learning coping mechanisms is important to prevent such a relapse from taking place.