“It doesn’t get taken seriously until it gets bad”: experiences of risk management from people diagnosed with a borderline personality disorder

Abstract

Purpose

People with a borderline personality disorder (BPD) diagnosis can require support from mental health services for managing risk behaviour. Current routine inpatient and community treatment can be unhelpful for this group. Positive risk taking has been developed to help community teams manage risk with people with a BPD. This study aims to explore experiences of risk management in an NHS Trust where positive risk taking is being implemented with people with a BPD.

Design/methodology/approach

Interpretative phenomenological analysis is the methodology of transcripts from semi-structured interviews. Nine adults with a diagnosis of BPD and current or previous experiences of risk management approaches were sampled from one NHS Trust.

Findings

Limited resources and interpersonal barriers had a negative impact on experiences of Positive risk taking. Participants experienced one-off risk assessments and short-term interventions such as medication which they described as “meaningless”. Traumatic experiences could make it difficult to establish therapeutic relationships and elicit unhelpful responses from professionals. Participants could only feel “taken seriously” when in crisis which contributed towards an increase in risky behaviour. Positive risk taking was contingent upon collaborative and consistent professional relationships which created a “safety net”, enabling open communication and responsibility taking which challenged recovery-relapse patterns of service use.

Research limitations/implications

Positive risk taking approaches to risk management may benefit people with a BPD. Findings complement those from other studies emphasising the importance of compassion and empathy when working with personality disorder. Training and increased resources are required to implement effective risk management with this group.

Originality/value

Findings expand upon the sparse existing research in the area of risk management using the Positive risk taking approach with people with a BPD diagnosis, and provide idiographic understanding which is clinically meaningful. Participants’ experiences suggest Positive risk taking may provide a framework for improving quality of life and decreasing service use for people diagnosed with BPD engaging in risk management with Community Mental Health Teams, which facilitates recovery and other benefits.

Citation

Ware, A., Preston, A. and Draycott, S. (2022), "“It doesn’t get taken seriously until it gets bad”: experiences of risk management from people diagnosed with a borderline personality disorder", Mental Health Review Journal, Vol. 27 No. 3, pp. 333-347. https://doi.org/10.1108/MHRJ-02-2021-0016