Learn About the Disorder
It is essential to understand that the person with borderline disorder is suffering from an illness that is as real as diabetes, heart disease, or hypertension. For most people, physical symptoms are easier to accept as indications of a disease than are behavioral symptoms. However, there is no reason to assume that a complex organ such as the brain is less susceptible to diseases that affect behavior than are other bodily organs that result in physical symptoms. Recently developed medical research studies demonstrate abnormal brain structure and function in patients with borderline disorder, thus confirming this conclusion.