Until 10 years ago, most experts did not think that people with BPD could recover, instead treatment could only hope to minimize the symptoms.
New psychotherapies like DBT and mentalization offer new hope to live a life worth living.
Recent Prognosis and Remission in retrospective studies suggest that some symptoms of BPD resolve over long periods of time (10+ years) with or without treatment.
The success rate of BPD treatment is around 50% over 10 years. One study looking at people with BPD over a 10-year period found that 93% of those with the disorder had at least a 2-year span of remission within that decade and 50% had “recovered”, including good social function (both with and without treatment). Another study showed that 75% of patients at the 15-year follow-up and 92% of patients at a 27-year follow-up no longer met the clinical definition of BPD.
However, people with BPD are usually not completely cured. The intense symptoms may be in remission, but many people continue to have dysphoria, difficulty with relationships, and self-identity issues leading to lower satisfaction and quality of life and lower employability. Sadly, one study showed that only 25% of the patients diagnosed with BPD ever achieve long-lasting, stable relationships or work.