Is emotional invalidation as a child the main cause of BPD?

Below is from About.com and makes the case that emotional invalidation is A or THE major cause of BPD, combining with biological predisposition , to cause PD. Can people on this forum confirm these experiences as being their environment as a child?

"What is Emotional Invalidation?

Emotional invalidation is when someone communicates to you that your emotions are not valid, are unreasonable or irrational, or should be hidden or concealed.

For example, when a child is fearful, their parent might tell them, “Stop being such a baby, there’s nothing to be afraid of.” This is an emotionally invalidating response; it not only communicates to the child that their emotions are invalid but also that they are weak for having emotions......

Marsha Linehan, Ph.D., the clinical psychologist who developed Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) has proposed that an “emotionally invalidating environment,” or an environment in which one’s emotional responses are consistently invalidated or punished, may interact with other factors to cause BPD.

In Dr. Linehan’s model, children at risk of developing BPD later in life are born with a biological predisposition toward strong emotional responses. Unfortunately, these strong emotional responses can be met with invalidation (which may, but does not necessarily, take the form of abuse or neglect).

It is important to note that in this model, there is an interaction between the child's emotions and the environment. Because the child has such strong emotional responses to situations that others might not react to, their emotions are more likely to be invalidated. If a parent or caregiver interprets the child's responses as overreactions, they are likely to respond with behaviors that discourage the emotional response.

Unfortunately, discouraging a child’s emotional responses, particularly if that child is temperamentally predisposed to have strong emotions, probably does not work to calm the child. Instead, it likely has the opposite effect —- the child’s emotional response is heightened, leading to an intensification of the emotion. Further, that child may miss the opportunity to learn how to manage their emotions effectively, which may lead to more emotion dysregulation down the road............

....... there is some strong evidence of a connection between childhood maltreatment and BPD (various forms of maltreatment, i.e, emotional neglect and physical abuse, are inherently invalidating of emotions). "
Steve

I'm not sure if I would say that this is "the" major cause of BPD, but I wouldn't rule it out as being a part of it. I think the major cause of the development of a lot of my problems is the fact that I was sexually abused as a child.

BUT, when I think about it, this did happen to me. I started to develop intense social phobia when I was a child, and everyone would brush it off as being just shyness that needed to be overcome by exposure. Now, I'm studying to be a therapist, and I have the strong belief that exposure does not help with social anxiety, but rather worsens it in individuals with the actual disorder. Anyways. I was constantly put down that my beliefs and irrational fears weren't that big of a deal, even though they were destroying any element of sanity I had. I went through many many years of this type of invalidation, and I'm sure it screwed up my mental state quite a bit. Having such severe fears and not being taken seriously at such a young age with a developing mind, can hardly lead to a healthy personality.

homersxchild wrote: I was constantly put down that my beliefs and irrational fears weren't that big of a deal, even though they were destroying any element of sanity I had. I went through many many years of this type of invalidation, and I'm sure it screwed up my mental state quite a bit. .

Thanks Homer, so do you remember how it made you feel to feel have your fears invalidated and do you remember what effect did it have, like did you stop expressing the fears, hold everything in, and withdraw rrom your family , or express the fears more or start experiencing other strong idifficult to regulate emotions or what? And are you a very emtoinal person by nature like the quote suggests?

Thanks,

Steve

I don't remember the invalidation itself but as far back as I can remember it was always clear to me that if I had a problem or if something upset me that there was no point in going to mommy for it… it would just upset her and I felt she had enough on her plate without having my problems as an extra "burden".

I also learned at an early age that being sensitive and crying easily only invoked sadistic urges in other children and I was abused a lot because of that throughout all my school years… by the first grade I already learned how to not cry while getting beaten up by other kids and how to push off crying until I was safely away from them.

At one point when I was in the 2nd grade, after my mom's suicide attempt, the social workers were considering taking me away because my mom was suspected of sexually abusing me (hehe)… so it was conveyed to me that displaying signs of emotional distress could result in me being taken away from my mommy which seemed like a fate worse than death back when I didn't know any better.

One invalidating occasion that does stick out in my mind (for some reason) is when my mother and I were guests at her friend's house and me and the other kids were supposed to help set the table which was outdoors. The other kids were doing stuff in the kitchen and I was trying to set the table map but each time I got it just right the wind would blow it off… after a few failed attempts at setting it I burst into tears and ran to my mom crying and she said to her friend "she's so sensitive" in a tone of voice that made me feel so bad for being so weak and stupid.

it could definitely be a contributing factor... but i think theres always gonna be that person or two who doesnt have any type of experience that relates to that at all.

but i know for me that i definitely had a lot of emotional invalidation as a child, as well as being pre-disposed to the disorder by my mother.