Posted by Elizabeth on March 10, 1999, at 21:27:51
In reply to Re: Any Borderline Personalitys taking anything? Klon?, posted by Shar on March 10, 1999, at 13:38:53
> I think that each side is right here. There are many borderlines with high intelligence as well as those with low. I think what Ron is speaking of is those who have higher instances and effects from their disease because they have the ability to think too far into situations. A high IQ can give individuals the ability to let many more areas affect them than others. I have anxiety/panic disorder and do know from personal experience that it does cause increased frustration, carries over into high level work and causes an increase in harmful verbal abuse. I do have personality disorder as well and I tend to "analyze" everyone who comes around me. This makes my condition worse. My analyzations are often distorted and can lead me to distrust people, however, this is why we have to be in therapy.
> Ron, I did read an article that says it is dangerous to make these kind of blanket characterizations to any group, however, I believe those in this group that you have interacted with are of higher intelligence. The web site below is great for this particular debate going on. Hope everyone is well.
>
> http://www.mentalhealth.com/mag1/p5h-per1.htmlI think that the following are two very different statements:
"All borderlines have IQs over 130."
"Many borderlines have IQs over 130."
I never said there are not smart borderlines. I know borderlines who I met at MIT and Harvard - they are smart, but they tend not to be high achievers compared to those without such serious emotional (and, I'll go ahead and say it, cognitive) impairments. I have met other borderlines who, although creative, were not intelligent in the sense that IQ measures.
I am quite sure that if we interviewed some neuropsychologists who do psychological testing (which includes intelligence tests) they would not support the claim that all borderlines score substantially higher than average. My own suspicion is that, due to their quite extensive difficulties, borderlines actually do worse on these tests than average.
Possible sources of impairment might include impressionistic, overly intuitive thinking, poor attentional skills, suggestibility, and susceptibility to "emotional thinking" (treating emotions as "facts").
The burden of proof lies on Ron, who has made an outrageous assertion with no supporting evidence beyond "I think I read it somewhere." I'm willing to assume that he remembers correctly, but we have no idea how reliable his source is or how the author of his source arrived at this belief. As far as I'm ocncerned, it has the status of "extremely unreliable rumor."
For what it's worth, Shar, I think you're doing a good job of overcoming the "all-or-none thinking" that is so common in this disorder. What sort of treatment have you been in, if you don't mind talking about it? I'm glad I don't have to deal with this disorder, as it really does seem to take over people's lives in a uniquely damaging way. Besides the people I met in college, I've met a few borderlines in group therapy - they seemed to have a number of difficulties coping, and in each case it turned out that something horrible (or several somethings) had happened to them at a very young age.
poster:Elizabeth
thread:2094
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990501/msgs/3586.html