Is it possible to have BPD if symptoms in childhood?

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From my medical records:

"[Mrs. X] states that as a young child, Tyri0n exhibited great sensitivity to light ... separation anxiety/anger whenever she was not immediately present and available; no ability to cope with frustration when he did not get what he wanted ... which often expressed itself in the form of severe and protracted temper tantrums that sometimes would involve property destruction and attempts to injure others ... [Teacher Y] states [he] appeared to be constantly angry ... "

So, if traits began in childhood, this would seem to rule out BPD and suggest an organic or developmental cause instead. Right? I thought symptoms of BPD could only arise in early adulthood.

As I understand it (not an expert), there's no requirement that the traits don't appear until adulthood -- it's just that a diagnosis isn't considered valid until then. The idea is that a child is still developing and traits seen in childhood may change by adulthood.

Yes exactly. All personality disorders can already begin in childhood and they often do, but because children are still developing you diagnose personality disorders just in adults.

Last edited by Raziel on 19 Mar 2013, 3:09 am, edited 1 time in total.

BPD isn't diagnosed in childhood. The condition usually emerges in adolescence or young adulthood.

Marsha Linehan believes the disorder is caused by genetics, a sensitive temperament and an emotionally invalidating environment. Others believe it is actually complex PTSD or a milder form of bipolar disorder rather than a personality disorder.

ASD and NVLD can explain the anger and tantrums. Eg. Difficulties interpreting social cues and change in routine

Reactive Attachment disorder possibly?

early trauma can be a sign of BpD,and it only needs a few things to turn it into something worse than that.
even if you've been diagnosed you wouldn't know you've got it as it is a destructive pattern in the persons behaviour which allows someone else to see it for what it is, the bigger picture. i wouldn't think it is seen to look prominent in early years, although first diagnosises of a pd could be life-changing i would have thought.

I was diagnosed with it along with lots of other things at 21 by a couple different psychs & I had a documented childhood history of those things(like IEPs Ithat were done on me when I was in school & records from psychs who diagnosed me with dyslexia). Me & my mom are pretty sure I have Aspergers thou & my psychs misdiagnosed me; I got alot better with those borderline things & I have a lot of other Aspie things

Autistic people can show many sings of "emotion disregulation" but there it is considered mostly as through the ASD. In my country HFA/AS is mostly missdiagnosed as schizophrenia or BPD.

I once had a suspicion of BPD, but just by one shrink and I was in a traumatic situation at that time and she couldn't (or wouldn't) realize it. I changed my environment and those symptoms mostly left within weeks(!) (and I had suffered from those symptoms for nearly two years). My new shrink never had that suspicion about me.
So sometimes other influences can cause such behaviour or other underlying disorders - like ASD. That's why BPD is so overdiagnosed, very often missdiagnosed and hard to diagnose.

What I know about personality disorders is that if the damaging behaviour persist into your adult years, then that can be diagnosed as such. However, the traits begin at childhood. The only reason you don't get diagnosed is because your personality hasn't fully developed yet. In some cases, however, you might get and early diagnosis (like if the traits are particularly severe). That's what I've read about it, anyway.

BPD symptoms usually emerge before adulthood. You just can't get a diagnosis because the DSM guys figure it's not as stable in children, and some of the symptoms mimic normal development (particularly in the teen years).

However, the new diagnosis of Developmental Trauma Disorder seems to overlap a lot with BPD. It's got the mood swings, self-injury, dissociation, attachment issues, poor sense of self... and the majority of BPD's would probably meet the criteria abuse + attachment disruption.

EMO teens show lots of BPD symptoms & lots of em outgrow the trend 1ce they're out of school & they tend to drop lots of the BPD symptoms then

Yeah, because many of them think it's a fashion choice and not a psychological disorder.

If you decide by choice to live a certain way it's something different and you can decide to behave different.

Last edited by Raziel on 16 Apr 2013, 12:56 am, edited 1 time in total.

Not what I've observed. If you go back to their childhood days, the signs should already be there. Have a talk with the parents or teachers of any person with something like BPD and you'll see.

NAMI has free literature on BPD on childhood.It can happen.

Actually, yes. It's called Newson Syndrome/PDA.

Some say it's called Newsom Syndrome, some say McDD, some say ODD, some say it's pretty much the same as bipolar disorder in children, because there is a certain spectrum, others say it's a form of PTSD and some even say it's pretty much the same as ADHD, just in grown ups.

When I hear theories like that, psychiatry stops makeing sence to me.