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Disability for Borderline Personality Disorder?

By Andrew Potts posted 04-18-2018 05:34 PM

  
I am an ARNP practicing in a community mental health center. I have a patient requesting that I fill out a disability form for her stating that she is unable to work due to her borderline personality disorder. The patient reports that she has had frequent conflicts with supervisors and peers in the work environment and that this makes it so that she is unable to work. I have spoken to her about seeking a position in which she has limited contact with others. She reports she has tried this and always ends up in conflict with her supervisor in these instances and ends up getting fired or quitting.

I realize that providers frequently have bias about patients with BPD. I have worked extensively with this population. I am just seeking input from others with similar experiences.
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05-19-2018 12:59 PM

As a fellow Nurse having had extensive work with this patient population; I think we'd all agree that difficulty in forming and maintaining positive relationships (professional, interpersonal, etc.) is not only one of the primary challenges for a person fitting the diagnostic criteria of BPD. It seems that the ability for this patient population to claim disability soley based on the BPD diagnosis would drastically move opposite from that leading to wellness. The need to be able to identify a purposeful life is vital to mental wellbeing. Allowing this patient population to claim disability may allow the individual to lock in on the idea that he/she continues to be a victim.