What Are the Signs of Borderline Personality Disorder?

• Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a mental health disorder that impacts the way a person thinks and feels about themselves and others, causing problems functioning in everyday life. It includes self-image issues, difficulty managing emotions and behavior, and a pattern of unstable relationships.

  The signs and symptoms of BPD can vary, but they often include the following:

  1. Fear of Abandonment: People with BPD are often terrified of being abandoned or left alone. Even something as innocuous as a loved one arriving home late from work or going away for the weekend may trigger intense fear. This can prompt frantic efforts to keep the other person close.

  2. Unstable Relationships: People with BPD tend to have relationships that are intense and short-lived. They may fall in love quickly, believing each new person is the one who will make them feel whole, only to be quickly disappointed.

  3. Unclear or Shifting Self-Image: When you have BPD, your sense of self is typically unstable. Sometimes you may feel good about yourself, but other times you hate yourself, or even view yourself as evil. You probably don’t have a clear idea of who you are or what you want in life.

  4. Impulsive, Self-Destructive Behaviors: If you have BPD, you may engage in harmful, sensation-seeking behaviors, especially when you’re upset. You may impulsively spend money you can’t afford, binge eat, drive recklessly, shoplift, engage in risky sex, or overdo it with drugs or alcohol.

  5. Self-Harm or Suicidal Behavior: Suicidal behavior and deliberate self-harm is common in people with BPD. Suicidal behavior includes thinking about suicide, making suicidal gestures or threats, or actually carrying out a suicide attempt.

  6. Extreme Emotional Swings: Unstable emotions and moods are common with BPD. One moment, you may feel happy, and the next, despondent. Little things that other people brush off can send you into an emotional tailspin.

  7. Chronic Feelings of Emptiness: People with BPD often talk about feeling empty, as if there’s a hole or a void inside them. At the extreme, you may feel as if you’re “nothing” or “nobody.”

  8. Explosive Anger: If you have BPD, you may struggle with intense anger and a short temper. You may also have trouble controlling yourself once the fuse is lit—yelling, throwing things, or becoming completely consumed by rage.

  9. Feeling Suspicious or Out of Touch with Reality: People with BPD often struggle with paranoia or suspicious thoughts about others' motives. When under stress, you may even lose touch with reality—an experience known as dissociation.

  It's important to note that these symptoms can be indicative of other mental health disorders as well, and only a qualified mental health professional can diagnose BPD.