Environmental Causes of BPD
The object relations theory states that the essential problem for people with BPD is that they are not able to distinguish between self and others. People with BPD shift their feelings and identities based on how others treat them and react to them. People with BPD also deal with extreme mood swings that lead to destructive relationships with people.
A young child with BPD does not go through the normal separation-individuation
process that results in a distinct identity. In the symbiotic phase (3 to
18 months) a child normally thinks that he/she and the mother are one unit.
The mother performs all the child’s ego functions, and makes all the
decisions for the child. In the separation-individuation phase (18 to 36 months)
a child typically develops a sense of identity and individuality that is separate
from their mother. Some theorists claim that children develop BPD when the
mother is unable to recognize the child developing an identity of its own.
The child is unable to see his/her own potentials and is unable to develop
an ego without the mother’s support and recognition of the child’s
developing identity. This leads to confusion about identity and is possibly
the root of BPD. Often children with BPD had adequate mothering; however,
the children have a predisposition of being overly demanding and requiring
more attention than most children, which makes them feel that they have not
been given enough.