,PYC4802 Assignment 3 (COMPLETE ANSWERS)
2025 - DUE August 2025; 100% TRUSTED
Complete, trusted solutions and explanations.
MULTIPLE CHOICE,ASSURED EXCELLENCE
Borderline Personality Disorder: Diagnostic Challenges and
Relevance to the South African Context
Introduction (5 marks)
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a severe mental health
condition characterized by pervasive instability in emotions,
self-image, and interpersonal relationships. Individuals with
BPD often experience intense mood swings, fear of
abandonment, and impulsive behaviors, which can lead to
significant distress and impairment (American Psychiatric
Association [APA], 2013). Diagnosing BPD is complex, as its
symptoms overlap with other psychiatric conditions such as
depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder (Paris, 2019). This
essay discusses the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for personality
disorders with a focus on BPD, outlines the hallmark features of
the disorder, and critically analyzes the challenges clinicians
face in diagnosing BPD. Furthermore, it examines how these
challenges manifest in the South African context, where
cultural, systemic, and socio-economic factors complicate
accurate diagnosis and treatment.
, DSM-5 Diagnostic Criteria for Personality Disorders and
Borderline Personality Disorder (15 marks)
According to the DSM-5, personality disorders are enduring
patterns of inner experience and behavior that deviate
markedly from the expectations of an individual’s culture, are
pervasive and inflexible, have onset in adolescence or early
adulthood, are stable over time, and lead to distress or
impairment (APA, 2013). The diagnosis requires that the
patterns affect at least two areas of functioning: cognition,
affectivity, interpersonal functioning, and impulse control.
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is classified under
Cluster B personality disorders in the DSM-5. The diagnostic
criteria require the presence of at least five out of nine hallmark
features:
1. Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment
2. A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal
relationships, alternating between extremes of idealization
and devaluation
3. Identity disturbance with markedly unstable self-image
4. Impulsivity in at least two self-damaging areas (e.g.,
substance abuse, reckless driving)
5. Recurrent suicidal behavior or self-mutilation
6. Affective instability due to marked reactivity of mood
2025 - DUE August 2025; 100% TRUSTED
Complete, trusted solutions and explanations.
MULTIPLE CHOICE,ASSURED EXCELLENCE
Borderline Personality Disorder: Diagnostic Challenges and
Relevance to the South African Context
Introduction (5 marks)
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a severe mental health
condition characterized by pervasive instability in emotions,
self-image, and interpersonal relationships. Individuals with
BPD often experience intense mood swings, fear of
abandonment, and impulsive behaviors, which can lead to
significant distress and impairment (American Psychiatric
Association [APA], 2013). Diagnosing BPD is complex, as its
symptoms overlap with other psychiatric conditions such as
depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder (Paris, 2019). This
essay discusses the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for personality
disorders with a focus on BPD, outlines the hallmark features of
the disorder, and critically analyzes the challenges clinicians
face in diagnosing BPD. Furthermore, it examines how these
challenges manifest in the South African context, where
cultural, systemic, and socio-economic factors complicate
accurate diagnosis and treatment.
, DSM-5 Diagnostic Criteria for Personality Disorders and
Borderline Personality Disorder (15 marks)
According to the DSM-5, personality disorders are enduring
patterns of inner experience and behavior that deviate
markedly from the expectations of an individual’s culture, are
pervasive and inflexible, have onset in adolescence or early
adulthood, are stable over time, and lead to distress or
impairment (APA, 2013). The diagnosis requires that the
patterns affect at least two areas of functioning: cognition,
affectivity, interpersonal functioning, and impulse control.
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is classified under
Cluster B personality disorders in the DSM-5. The diagnostic
criteria require the presence of at least five out of nine hallmark
features:
1. Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment
2. A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal
relationships, alternating between extremes of idealization
and devaluation
3. Identity disturbance with markedly unstable self-image
4. Impulsivity in at least two self-damaging areas (e.g.,
substance abuse, reckless driving)
5. Recurrent suicidal behavior or self-mutilation
6. Affective instability due to marked reactivity of mood
