24 June 2024 , 10:45
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Mental health specialists and medical professionals are calling on the health secretary to implement an immediate ban on diagnosing children and young people in the UK with borderline personality disorder, or BPD. The call has come in the form of an open letter, spearheaded by former health minister Sir Norman Lamb and supported by organisations such as the Royal College of Nursing, the British Psychological Society and the Royal College of General Practitioners.
The letter already boasts more than 1,000 verified signatures. It says: "Children should not be diagnosed with a personality disorder in the UK."
The correspondence implores health practitioners to completely "abandon" the tag "personal disorder". They argue that these "misleading" and "stigmatising" terms foster more "harm and worse treatment" for patients while also leading "traumatised children" to think "they have deficits in their personality".
The letter says that approximately 2% of the UK population match the criteria for BPD. Yet it mentions that mental health professionals "view labelling children with a personality disorder between abhorrent, unethical, harmful, dubious, but not least - controversial."
Patients labelled with BPD are typically deemed emotionally unstable or manipulative. Specialists suggest that this stigma attached to the diagnosis deeply influences mental health staff to the point where early indicators of self-harm or suicidal tendencies may be overlooked, as they presuppose the patient is fabricating scenarios or merely seeking attention, reports the Express.
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The letter highlights harrowing "lived experiences" of BPD patients, including instances of individuals "having self-harm wounds stitched without anesthetic and being denied physical health care". It points out the stark reality of the high suicide rate among those with BPD and cautions that labelling young people with this diagnosis suggests to medical professionals "they have a flawed personality" instead of recognising a severe mental illness rooted in trauma.
Signed by a number of senior medics, top psychiatrists, psychotherapists, and mental health nurses and carers, the letter says that although societal views on BPD may have softened, the stigma within the healthcare sector "has not noticeably declined over the past 25 years." With the election looming, the open letter demands a moratorium on diagnosing youngsters with BPD in the UK "until there is conclusive proof that this diagnosis does not harm children".
The letter states: "We know many ways to help traumatised children and not one of them relies on those around them believing they have deficits in their personality." Due to the pre-election period, the DHSC has refrained from commenting.