TMS treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) can impact your mood and lead to risky behaviours.

Borderline personality disorder has a variety of symptoms, generally categorised into four groups. These may include:

Emotional instability

• Intense anger
• Sadness and sorrow
• Shame and humiliation
• Terror and inexplicable fear
• Emptiness and loneliness

Experiencing severe mood swings and unpredictable changes in mood are key symptoms of BPD.

Cognitive distortion

• Feeling as though you are a terrible person
• Wondering whether you truly exist
• Briefly hearing voices or hallucinating
• Experiencing strong beliefs that no one can talk you out of

If you're experiencing severe perception distortions, it may indicate worsening health, and it's crucial to seek help.

Impulsive behaviour

• Self harm
• Reckless drinking/drug misuse
• Irresponsible spending or gambling
• Unsafe sex
  
  

Unstable relationships

• Feeling abandoned by those you love
• Feeling the opposite and as though you are being smothered with love
• Experiencing a frantic urge to stop people leaving you
• Believing relationships are black and white with no grey areas

Diagnosing Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) can be challenging for psychiatrists to diagnose due to its wide range of symptoms.

Currently, NICE (the UK's National Institute of Health and Care Excellence) has not approved any medications for treating BPD.

The NICE guidelines recommend two types of therapy for BPD:

• Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), which works to identify negative thought patterns and introduce positive thoughts and behaviours
• Cognitive Analytical Therapy (CAT), which looks into the experiences that could have caused you to think and feel the way you do

Research shows that treatment options for borderline personality disorder are limited, and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) is mainly effective for addressing self-harm symptoms.

While BPD often improves with age, research indicates that individuals with BPD have suicide rates up to 50 times higher than those without the disorder. This underscores the critical need for effective treatment during the most severe phases of the disorder.

TMS targets specific brain circuits linked to BPD, helping to improve mood without using chemicals.

Treatment can help you feel more balanced and manage your emotions better.

The BPD treatment plan includes 30 sessions, divided into two sets of 15. These sessions are scheduled over three to six weeks, with each session lasting 30 minutes. Some patients may have more than one session per day.

TMS results for BPD

Psychiatrists find BPD challenging to diagnose and treat, often leaving patients with limited options.

Research indicates that TMS effectively reduces anger and impulsive behaviour while stabilising moods.

If you have BPD, you might also experience depression. Studies show that using TMS to treat both can greatly improve depression symptoms. This helps you acknowledge your feelings as valid and reduces impulsive actions.

TMS for Borderline Personality Disorder, Depression, Anxiety, OCD and PTSD

Dr. Neal and his team are committed to ensuring patients remain healthy after their TMS treatment. We've developed aftercare packages, based on research and experience, to offer continuous support through regular top-up treatments.

Have you had TMS treatment for depression at another clinic? Smart TMS can offer you maintenance therapy, too.