Borderline personality more signs and symptoms

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a complex, serious psychiatric disorder characterized by pervasive instability in regulation of emotion, self-image, interpersonal relationships, and impulse control. BPD is the most prevalent of the Axis II personality disorders with a lifetime prevalence rate as high as 4%.

“It isn't that Borderlines haven't wanted love, it's that they have never been able to trust it. Partners who occasionally meet their need for closeness are less threatening than those who can provide it on a consistent basis.”  - Shari Schreiber

The Psychiatric DSM lists nine symptoms commonly found in patients with BPD.  They are:

1. Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment.
2. A pattern of unstable interpersonal relationships.
3. Marked identity disturbance and unstable self-image or sense of self.
4. Impulsivity in at least 2 areas that are self-damaging.
5. Recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, or threats.
6. Chronic feelings of emptiness.
7. Affective inability due to marked relativity of mood.
8. Stress related paranoid ideation or severe dissociation.
9. Innappropriate and intense anger or rage.

Characteristics of BPD further explained:

1. Disturbance in self-concept. People with BPD base their self-image on what others say or how others react to them. Self-concept fluctuates due to mood swings and contradictory inconsistent thoughts about oneself.

2. Unstable interpersonal relations. Those with BPD fears separation from others. It may appear as abandonment issues, fear of being alone, or extreme dependence on others.  Most tend to be socially overactive and compulsively avoid being alone.

3. Impulsive behaviors such as over-spending and over-eating are the most common symptoms seen. These impulsive behaviors lead to more severe behaviors  such as gambling and drinking, which include activities without thinking of consequences.

4. Mood swings  rapid mood shifts with sudden, frequent, and intense changes in mood, such as loneliness, rage, bitterness, despondence, and abandonment, which lead to high demands in attention from others.

5. Functional Failures occur because most people with BPD statistically show high potential for high achievement, but are prevented from reaching full potential, due to lack of emotional stability.

Other commonly held beliefs of people with BPD:

1. Emotional Deprivation - “No one cares for me, so life doesn’t matter.”

2. Punishment - “I am a bad person and deserve to be punished.”

3. Fear of losing emotional control - “I must control my emotions or something bad will happen.”

4. Inadequate Self Discipline - “I can’t control myself in this situation.”

5. Mistrust - “I must protect myself, because people are going to take advantage of me and hurt me.”

6. Lack of Individuation - “I must do what others want or they won’t like me and leave me.”

7. Dependence - “I need someone to rely on to make the right decisions.”

8. Unlovable - “No one will love me if they really know me.”

9. Abandonment - “I don’t want to be alone and have no one there for me.”

For more information on Borderline Personality Disorder please visit the:  Borderline Resource Center

Source material: NIH.gov, borderlinepersonality.com, web4health.com, psychiatryonline.com