While lots of teenagers experience extreme emotions — powerful feelings come with this developmental stage — some kids are destabilized by overwhelming feelings they can’t manage. For these kids, emotional volatility undermines their relationships and leads to self-destructive behaviors. Borderline personality disorder is a mental health challenge that develops in teenagers and young adults. It can leave them desperately unhappy — even suicidal — and their families struggling to figure out how to help them.

Fortunately, there is treatment developed specifically for BPD — dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) — that can be very successful in helping kids get out of this painful spiral. This week we’re rounding up resources on BPD and DBT, as well as other mental health challenges that develop in the teenage years: bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. The good news is that early intervention and new treatment strategies have made the prognosis much brighter for kids with these disorders.

— Caroline Miller, Editorial Director | ✉