Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) are being stigmatised and left to suffer because of patchy services, confusion over the diagnosis and some health professionals who treat them as “attention seeking”, according to a new report.

BPD is a controversial condition characterised by problems forming relationships, and acute episodes of anger, depression and anxiety. Early life trauma, such as abuse and neglect, is one of the triggers for BPD, leaving people struggling to relate to others and regulate their own emotions. However it is poorly understood by the public and some NHS staff, leaving sufferers facing difficult experiences, the Mental Welfare Commission (MWC) said.

A survey of 70 people in Scotland with BPD heard more than one in ten had found out about their diagnosis by accident, usually by reading their notes. One patient’s doctor told him then added: “oh, I shouldn’t have told you that. It says here not to disclose”. Other patients were viewed by professionals as potentially dangerous - although the report says people with BPD are usually a danger only to themselves. An estimated three quarters of sufferers harm themselves and the risk that they take their own life is as thought to be as high as one in ten.

Interviews with more than 200 GPs and A&E staff found both felt ill-equipped to help people with BPD and called for more support from mental health teams.

Juliet Brock, a psychiatrist with the MWC, said people with BPD often felt they were treated with less sympathy and understanding than other people with mental health conditions. “In some cases they were seen in pejorative terms, as attention-seeking and manipulative - when in reality they were distressed and in need of intervention and support.”

But Alison Thomson, Executive Nursing Director Nursing at the Commission, said while the diagnosis was contentious, patients found having their condition identified was often helpful. There is no known drug treatment for the condition but talking cures can work, where available.

The report calls for health and care integration boards to do more to ensure staff are trained to deal with the condition and for the Scottish Government to ensure the needs of people are not forgotten as part of a drive to recruit an additional 800 mental health staff to the NHS.