Recent Innovations in Psychology

Recent Innovations in Psychology

Examining and Describing the Victim Mentality in People with Borderline Personality Disorder

Document Type : In English

Authors
Peyman Dousti 1
Narges Hosseininia 2
1 Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, South Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
2 Ph.D. in Health Psychology, Department of Health Psychology, Kish International Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kish Island, Iran
10.22034/rip.2024.459160.1035
Abstract
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a prevalent psychological disorder in clinical and community settings. A significant portion of people with BPD seem to carry a victim mentality with them throughout their life years. Therefore, this qualitative study aimed to examine and describe the victim mentality in individuals with BPD using content analysis. The sample consisted of 134 psychological records of individuals diagnosed with BPD who attended a psychological clinic in Tehran between 2021 and 2023. Data saturation was reached after analyzing 33 records. The information obtained from the psychological records was organized, and then the collected data was classified. The findings revealed that the victim mentality in individuals with BPD manifests in five categories, characterized by 12 states and 30 indicators. These categories include: (1) Abandonment of Responsibility, (2) Belief in Being Defeated in Life, (3) Blaming Others and Inducing Guilt, (4) Chronic Feelings of Loneliness, and (5) Feeling Chronically Abused. The findings suggest that the victim mentality in BPD is not merely a role-playing strategy but a deeply ingrained schema about I am a victim.
Keywords
borderline personality disorder
victim mentality
interactive pattern

Subjects

References

American Psychiatric Association. (2022). DIAGNOSTIC AND STATISTICAL MANUAL OF MENTAL DISORDERS (DSM 5-TR), American Psychiatric Association: Washington. URL: https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/practice/dsm

Biskin, R. S., & Paris, J. (2012). Diagnosing borderline personality disorder. CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne, 184(16), 1789–1794. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.090618

Bozzatello, P., Garbarini, C., Rocca, P., & Bellino, S. (2021). Borderline Personality Disorder: Risk Factors and Early Detection. Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland), 11(11), 2142. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics11112142

Brüne, M. (2016). Borderline Personality Disorder: Why 'fast and furious'? Evolution, medicine, and public health, 2016(1), 52–66. https://doi.org/10.1093/emph/eow002  

Cavelti, M., Thompson, K., Betts, J., Fowler, C., Luebbers, S., Cottton, S. M., & Chanen, A. (2022). Young People with Borderline Personality Disorder Have an Increased Lifetime Risk of Being the Victim of Interpersonal Violence. Journal of interpersonal violence, 37(13-14), NP10642–NP10660. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260520986270

Dousti, S., Dousti, P., & Yavari, A. H. (2024). Comparing the Effectiveness of the Group Therapy and Training Based on the Combined Approach of Acceptance and Commitment and Schema Therapy on Impulsiveness and Schema Modes of People with Borderline Personality Disorder. Recent Innovations in Psychology, 1(2), 58-71 (In Persian). https://doi.org/10.22034/rip.2024.194127

Edery, R. A. (2019). Borderline personality disorder: A brief contemporary review. EC Psychology and Psychiatry, 8, 351-356. URL: https://ecronicon.net/assets/ecpp/pdf/ECPP-08-00465.pdf

Estabrooks, M. J. (2020). A Victim No More: My Breaking the Victim Mentality, Independently published. URL: https://www.amazon.com/Victim-No-More-Breaking-Mentality/dp/B086B9QHZZ

John, V. (2024). Exploration of the unaddressed "Victim Mentality" through Existential Therapy -A Phenomenological Study. URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/379607449

Leichsenring, F., Heim, N., Leweke, F., Spitzer, C., Steinert, C., & Kernberg, O. F. (2023). Borderline personality disorder: a review. Jama, 329(8), 670-679. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2023.0589

Liu, Y., Chen, C., Zhou, Y., Zhang, N., & Liu, S. (2024). Twenty years of research on borderline personality disorder: a scientometric analysis of hotspots, bursts, and research trends. Frontiers in psychiatry, 15, 1361535. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1361535

Manfred, F.R. (2014), Are you a victim of the victim syndrome?, Organizational Dynamics, 43 (2); 130-137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2014.03.007

Miller, C. E., Townsend, M. L., Day, N. J. S., & Grenyer, B. F. S. (2020). Measuring the shadows: A systematic review of chronic emptiness in borderline personality disorder. PloS one, 15(7), e0233970. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0233970

Scott, L. N., Wright, A. G. C., Beeney, J. E., Lazarus, S. A., Pilkonis, P. A., & Stepp, S. D. (2017). Borderline personality disorder symptoms and aggression: A within-person process model. Journal of abnormal psychology, 126(4), 429–440. https://doi.org/10.1037/abn0000272

Tohotoa, J. (2013). Struggling Striving Surviving: Living with Borderline Personality Disorder. Xlibris Corporation. URL: https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=8zaEBdJw2msC&oi 

References

American Psychiatric Association. (2022). DIAGNOSTIC AND STATISTICAL MANUAL OF MENTAL DISORDERS (DSM 5-TR), American Psychiatric Association: Washington. URL: https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/practice/dsm
Biskin, R. S., & Paris, J. (2012). Diagnosing borderline personality disorder. CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne, 184(16), 1789–1794. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.090618
Bozzatello, P., Garbarini, C., Rocca, P., & Bellino, S. (2021). Borderline Personality Disorder: Risk Factors and Early Detection. Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland), 11(11), 2142. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics11112142
Brüne, M. (2016). Borderline Personality Disorder: Why 'fast and furious'? Evolution, medicine, and public health, 2016(1), 52–66. https://doi.org/10.1093/emph/eow002  
Cavelti, M., Thompson, K., Betts, J., Fowler, C., Luebbers, S., Cottton, S. M., & Chanen, A. (2022). Young People with Borderline Personality Disorder Have an Increased Lifetime Risk of Being the Victim of Interpersonal Violence. Journal of interpersonal violence, 37(13-14), NP10642–NP10660. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260520986270
Dousti, S., Dousti, P., & Yavari, A. H. (2024). Comparing the Effectiveness of the Group Therapy and Training Based on the Combined Approach of Acceptance and Commitment and Schema Therapy on Impulsiveness and Schema Modes of People with Borderline Personality Disorder. Recent Innovations in Psychology, 1(2), 58-71 (In Persian). https://doi.org/10.22034/rip.2024.194127
Edery, R. A. (2019). Borderline personality disorder: A brief contemporary review. EC Psychology and Psychiatry, 8, 351-356. URL: https://ecronicon.net/assets/ecpp/pdf/ECPP-08-00465.pdf
Estabrooks, M. J. (2020). A Victim No More: My Breaking the Victim Mentality, Independently published. URL: https://www.amazon.com/Victim-No-More-Breaking-Mentality/dp/B086B9QHZZ
John, V. (2024). Exploration of the unaddressed "Victim Mentality" through Existential Therapy -A Phenomenological Study. URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/379607449
Leichsenring, F., Heim, N., Leweke, F., Spitzer, C., Steinert, C., & Kernberg, O. F. (2023). Borderline personality disorder: a review. Jama, 329(8), 670-679. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2023.0589
Liu, Y., Chen, C., Zhou, Y., Zhang, N., & Liu, S. (2024). Twenty years of research on borderline personality disorder: a scientometric analysis of hotspots, bursts, and research trends. Frontiers in psychiatry, 15, 1361535. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1361535
Manfred, F.R. (2014), Are you a victim of the victim syndrome?, Organizational Dynamics, 43 (2); 130-137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2014.03.007
Miller, C. E., Townsend, M. L., Day, N. J. S., & Grenyer, B. F. S. (2020). Measuring the shadows: A systematic review of chronic emptiness in borderline personality disorder. PloS one, 15(7), e0233970. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0233970
Scott, L. N., Wright, A. G. C., Beeney, J. E., Lazarus, S. A., Pilkonis, P. A., & Stepp, S. D. (2017). Borderline personality disorder symptoms and aggression: A within-person process model. Journal of abnormal psychology, 126(4), 429–440. https://doi.org/10.1037/abn0000272
Tohotoa, J. (2013). Struggling Striving Surviving: Living with Borderline Personality Disorder. Xlibris Corporation. URL: https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=8zaEBdJw2msC&oi 

  • Receive Date 24 May 2024
  • Revise Date 07 June 2024
  • Accept Date 21 June 2024
  • First Publish Date 29 November 2024