Posts by OPI Team
Alcohol and BPD: The Effects on Young Adults
Written by, Janet Hamm-Tuverson, Director of Addictions Counseling Services at Optimum Performance Institute in Woodland Hills, CA Young adults grappling with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and alcohol often face an uphill battle when it comes to emotional regulation and can experience an increase in BPD symptoms from drinking and partying. Here’s what parents of…
Read MoreSelf Esteem in Teens and Young Adults
Teenagers and young adults today are facing unprecedented social pressures. Social media’s effects on young people, for example, with highlight reels of other people’s lives and photo filters showcasing unrealistic beauty standards can greatly impact a young person’s mental health. As a parent, you know that your teen or young adult is beautiful inside and…
Read MoreQuiet BPD: How to Recognize it in Teens & Young Adults
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a condition that affects around 1.4% of adults in the United States, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. But did you know that there is also a subtype of BPD known as Quiet BPD? Unlike the classic form, this type of BPD can be harder to spot, especially…
Read MoreBPD Splitting
Splitting, or viewing a person as “all good” or “all bad”, is a mental health issue that can begin as early as infancy. For a baby, part of solidifying their ego includes figuring out “good” and “bad”. They identify their needs being met as “good”, and their needs not being met as “bad”. Over time,…
Read MoreUnderstanding Self-Destructive Borderline Personality Disorder
What is BPD? Borderline personality disorder, often called BPD, is a personality disorder marked by fear of abandonment and rejection, unstable relationships, mood swings, and impulsive behavior, among many other BPD symptoms. Psychologist Theodore Millon identified four subtypes of borderline personality disorder (BPD) as a way to further categorize BPD symptoms. Many people with BPD…
Read MoreTreating Petulant Borderline Personality Disorder
“Borderline personality disorder, called BPD for short, is a personality disorder affecting up to 5.9% of adults in the United States.” What is BPD? Borderline personality disorder, called BPD for short, is a personality disorder affecting up to 5.9% of adults in the United States. Some of the hallmark symptoms for BPD patients are patterns of…
Read MoreBipolar and BPD Intervention: Beyond Diagnosis to The Whole Person
Dear Dr. Bob, My daughter is now in her early twenties. Since adolescence, she struggled with shifts in moods, problems in school (she’s incredibly bright but had a hard time following through), and she tends to isolate herself, which contributes to her depression and low self-esteem. She’s been diagnosed as bipolar and is on…
Read MoreHow to Reclaim Your Inner Joy (Even in Times of Grief)
We can’t really truly, fairly, and in dignity, comment on the suffering of another human being. It is impossible to know the unique and detailed experience of another, and to speculate about it is, in the grand scheme of things, counterproductive. So what can we do when we hear about a tragic event that moves…
Read MoreOPI Living Co-Founders Attend IECA Conference in Atlanta
It happens every year: I always look forward to seeing old friends, meeting new ones and exchanging ideas at every Independent Educational Consultants Assn. (IECA) conference I go to. So if you and I didn’t have a chance to connect, I truly regret the missed opportunity if you also attended the recent IECA Atlanta gathering.…
Read MoreNew Perspectives About “Failure to Launch” Young Adults
“It’s never too late,” I said to frustrated parents in my office at the Optimum Performance Institute. “You seem to think the game is over but that’s not true! Sometimes it takes a village of caring professionals and peers to help break the cycle of alienation and isolation but your son CAN become independent and…
Read MoreThe Colorado Shooting: Struggling With Despondency In An “Out-Of-Balance” World
As a child and adolescent psychiatrist for more than 30 years I am, like everyone, shocked and saddened by the recent violent actions of James Eagan Holmes in a Colorado movie theater. Certainly, I cannot speak to the complex and multi-focal factors that drove him to this tragic end nor have I worked with young…
Read MoreThe Difference Between a Mood Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder
Often, I’m asked about what the difference is between a Mood Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder. Part of the difficulty is our present diagnostic system: So many symptoms and observable behaviors are shared by different disorders that at times it’s extremely difficult to distinguish between them. To make things even more complicated, there is a…
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