10 March 2016
Raising awareness of Emotional Intensity Disorder
Stigma often surrounds mental health
conditions, but imagine having a condition whose name gives rise to
misunderstandings about the very essence of us - our
personality.
This is the case for 2-3% of people in the UK with a diagnosis
of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and is why one of our
North Somerset teams is describing the condition as -
Emotional Intensity Disorder (EID) to better highlight
the heightened emotional sensitivity and reactivity associated
with the condition.
The Emotional Intensity team is made up of Emotional Intensity
Lead Gemma Gowing, Sue Fuller CPN, Hannah Gould CPN, Sarah Gregson
Social Worker, Becky Wood CPN & Dr Kate Littler Psychologist.
The team is also supported to deliver intervention by staff from
the recovery team and psychological therapy service.
Kate Littler explains "People with EID feel emotions very
intensely. Their emotions can last longer than feels comfortable,
can change very quickly and are often overwhelming. This can have
knock- on effects on relationships, jobs, physical health and
self-esteem and some people look for other ways to cope such as
self-harm or substance abuse, which cause extra problems. The
condition does not mean that a person has an inadequate personality
or half a personality, as the term 'BPD' may suggest."
Over the coming weeks, the team alongside Dr Kristina
Gintalaite-Bieliauskiene are running evening sessions for
service users and carers providing accurate, up to date information
about EID and letting them know about the help available. Click here for more information
A new leaflet describing the disorder has also been
developed and can be view here.
The staff sessions are also open to healthcare professionals
outside of AWP and highlight EID traits in different age groups,
research studies, lessons learnt from RCA reports, neurobiology
findings and attachment, and different therapy approaches. Service
users will also be there to talk about their personal experiences.
Details can be found here.
Dr Gintalaite-Bieliauskiene says "Information about EID has
increased dramatically in the last few years, but we believe that
there is a need to enhance our knowledge in this area and to
improve the service people with EID receive.
"We want to increase understanding amongst the public and
healthcare professionals that people with EID need to be taken
seriously, that their distress is significant and that they deserve
compassionate, effective treatment. Most importantly we want to
share the message that recovery is possible."
Recent research suggests that most people with emotion intensity
have reduced symptoms over time, and about half eventually become
symptom free and function well.