Emotional Invalidation During Childhood May Lead to BPD

Emotional invalidation during childhood often precedes borderline personality disorder (BPD) in adolescence or adulthood.

Understanding Emotional Invalidation:

Emotional invalidation happens when someone dismisses, denies, or invalidates the legitimacy of your emotions. For instance, when a child expresses fear, a parent may say, "Don't be silly; there's nothing to be afraid of." This invalidates the child's emotions.

Validation acknowledges and respects a person's emotions, even if you don't agree with them. An example of validation would be saying, "I understand you feel scared and want to hear what's troubling you."

BPD and Emotional Invalidation:

Emotional invalidation in childhood and adolescence is a potential factor in developing BPD. According to Marsha Linehan, PhD, who developed dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), "emotionally invalidating environments" interact with other factors to cause BPD.

Dr. Linehan's model explains that some individuals are biologically predisposed to strong emotional responses, which are then invalidated by caregivers. A child's environment becomes invalidating when their intense emotions are met with invalidation, leading to heightened emotional responses and more intense emotions.

Emotional Invalidation as a Cause of BPD:

Dr. Linehan's model includes emotional invalidation as a risk factor for BPD. Research shows a link between childhood maltreatment (inherently emotionally invalidating) and BPD. Additionally, people with BPD often report experiencing childhood emotional invalidation.

However, proving that emotional invalidation causes BPD is challenging due to the retrospective and correlational nature of most research in this area.

Providing Emotional Validation:

If you're concerned about your invalidating responses towards someone with BPD, consider working with a mental health professional. They can help you develop skills for validating responses, thereby reducing your loved one's reactivity.