<p> </p><p>A person with borderline personality disorder, which is a mental illness, can be described as emotionally instable. As a relative of a person with borderline personality disorder one often feels a sense of despair, anxiety and fear. The essay’s purpose was to get an understanding of what it means to be a relative of a person with borderline personality disorder. We wanted to see the relative’s relationship from two perspectives, both from the relative’s perspective and from the professional’s perspective. The essay was a qualitative study with a phenomenological approach. The results were structured into five themes. These were: Growing up, To be diagnosed, Life with borderline, The present, and The future. The results were analyzed against coping. A qualitative analysis was conducted. The results showed that life as a relative of a person with borderline personality disorder in many cases can be stressful. For example, they adapted their own life very much. Blame from the healthcare system and from the surrounding environment seemed to be a prominent feature of the family.</p><p> </p> / <p> </p><p>En person med borderline personlighetsstörning, som är en psykisk sjukdom, kan beskrivas som emotionell instabil. Som anhörig till en person med borderline personlighetsstörning kan man känna oro, rädsla och förtvivlan. Uppsatsens syfte var att få förståelse för hur det är att vara anhörig till en person med borderline personlighetsstörning. Anhörigskapet studeras från två perspektiv: dels från anhörigas och dels från professionellas. Uppsatsen var en kvalitativ studie och hade en fenomenologisk ansats. Resultatet strukturerades i fem teman: Uppväxt, Att få diagnosen, Livet med borderline, Nutid och Framtid. Resultatet analyserades mot copingbegreppet. En kvalitativ analys genomfördes. Resultatet visade att livet som anhörig till en person med borderline personlighetsstörning i många fall kan vara påfrestande då de till exempel fick anpassa sitt eget liv. Skuldbeläggande från sjukvården och från omgivningen verkade vara en återkommande erfarenhet.</p><p> </p>

A person with borderline personality disorder, which is a mental illness, can be described as emotionally instable. As a relative of a person with borderline personality disorder one often feels a sense of despair, anxiety and fear. The essay’s purpose was to get an understanding of what it means to be a relative of a person with borderline personality disorder. We wanted to see the relative’s relationship from two perspectives, both from the relative’s perspective and from the professional’s perspective. The essay was a qualitative study with a phenomenological approach. The results were structured into five themes. These were: Growing up, To be diagnosed, Life with borderline, The present, and The future. The results were analyzed against coping. A qualitative analysis was conducted. The results showed that life as a relative of a person with borderline personality disorder in many cases can be stressful. For example, they adapted their own life very much. Blame from the healthcare system and from the surrounding environment seemed to be a prominent feature of the family. / En person med borderline personlighetsstörning, som är en psykisk sjukdom, kan beskrivas som emotionell instabil. Som anhörig till en person med borderline personlighetsstörning kan man känna oro, rädsla och förtvivlan. Uppsatsens syfte var att få förståelse för hur det är att vara anhörig till en person med borderline personlighetsstörning. Anhörigskapet studeras från två perspektiv: dels från anhörigas och dels från professionellas. Uppsatsen var en kvalitativ studie och hade en fenomenologisk ansats. Resultatet strukturerades i fem teman: Uppväxt, Att få diagnosen, Livet med borderline, Nutid och Framtid. Resultatet analyserades mot copingbegreppet. En kvalitativ analys genomfördes. Resultatet visade att livet som anhörig till en person med borderline personlighetsstörning i många fall kan vara påfrestande då de till exempel fick anpassa sitt eget liv. Skuldbeläggande från sjukvården och från omgivningen verkade vara en återkommande erfarenhet.

Cette étude constitue un suivi longitudinal prospectif d’une cohorte de dyades de mères présentant un trouble de personnalité borderline avec leur enfant, dans une approche comparative avec unepopulation contrôle de dyades avec des mères sans trouble psychique. Elle a pour but d’éclairer le fonctionnement intrapsychique des mères et des bébés par l’étude des interactions précoces entre les mères borderline et leur bébé de trois mois. La grossesse représente une véritable crise identitaire et narcissique nécessitant un réaménagement des imagos maternels. Celui-ci ébranle l’identité de ces mères borderline déjà fragilisée par un narcissisme défaillant. Le bébé impose une relation de dépendance de laquelle la mère ne peut s’extraire. Les interactions précoces entre ces mères et leur bébé sont décrites comme étant teintées par l’intrusivité et la répétitivité, et reflètent leur incapacité à s’accorder aux rythmes propres et aux mouvements affectifs de leur enfant. Elles seraient en difficulté au sein d’un partage intersubjectif troublé pour aider le bébé à réguler ses émotions. Cette étude a aussi pour but d’éclairer la manière dont les comportements d’attachement de ces enfants, à 13 mois, s’ancrent dans la particularité de ces dysfonctionnements interactifs. L’évaluation des représentations d’attachement chez ces enfants, âgés de 4 à 8 ans, met en lumière différentes évolutions dans la qualité de leur attachement. Enfin, une approche psychodynamique de leurs récits, au test des histoires à compléter, éclaire les particularités de leur fonctionnement psychique. / This study comprises a prospective longitudinal exploration of a cohort of mother-child dyads with mothers with borderline personality disorder, compared with a control group of dyads in which mothers don’t display any psychological disorder. The aim of this study is to elucidate the early intrapsychic functioning of these mothers and infants through the study of the early interactions between these borderline mothers and their three-month-old infants. Pregnancy represents a powerful crisis, both of identity and narcissism, necessitating a reorganization of the maternal imago. It weakens the identity of mothers suffering from borderline personality disorder who are already debilitated by a failing narcissism. The infant imposes a relationship of dependence on its mother, from which she cannot extricate herself. The early mother-infant interactions are described as being imbued with intrusion and repetition, which reflect the mother’s incapacity to attune herself to the distinct rhythms and emotional movements of her child. They show difficulties at the heart of a troubled sharing of intersubjectivity to help the infant to regulate its emotions. This study endeavours to expound the way in which the attachment behaviours of these 13 month-old infants are embedded in the distinctive features of these dysfunctional interactions. The evaluation of the attachment representations of these children, aged from 4 to 8 years, draws light on different evolutions in the quality of their attachment. Ultimately, a psychodynamic approach of their narratives during the Attachment Story Stem Battery reveals the features of their psychological functioning.