Friday, December 30, 2011

More About Epilepsy and BPD

I previously posted about some theories that there may be a link between having epilepsy in one's family and having borderline personality disorder (BPD).

Recently a very wise person who has been diagnosed with BPD and is recovering from it brought up the possible BPD-epilepsy connection with me.  This person pointed me to the website of Dr. Leland M. Heller.

According to Dr. Heller, "The most severe BPD symptoms are likely a form of epilepsy and include 'dissociation' (unreality, body parts going numb, deja vu, etc.)..."

Of interest to me was the page where Dr. Heller stated,
Epilepsy means nerve cells firing inappropriately and out of control. Some individuals have a genetically unstable neurological system that can cause epilepsy in different areas.  This instability in the instinctual "trapped, cornered, wounded animal" response causes the BPD. Some other common disorders are likely epileptic in origin including bipolar disorder...
Dr. Heller also addresses the possible BPD-epilepsy connection here.