What Is Borderline Personality Disorder And What Are Its Symptoms

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a medical condition that is caused by mood swings, relational instability, and impulsive behaviour. Individuals with BPD grapple with a fear of abandonment and struggle to manage their anger. They often exhibit impulsive and risky actions, such as reckless driving and threats of self-harm. These challenges pose significant obstacles to maintaining stable relationships. Recognising these five symptoms can help you identify if your partner is dealing with borderline personality disorder.

1. Fear of abandonment:People with BPD often find it hard to be alone. These people also feel intense fear or anger when they are abandoned or neglected. They might keep track of their loved ones’ whereabouts or stop them from going anywhere. Or they might push people away before getting too close to avoid rejection.
2. Unstable Relationships:People with BPD may struggle to maintain healthy relationships because they often change their opinions of others suddenly. They can swiftly shift from idealising someone to devaluing them and vice versa. As a result, their friendships, marriages, and relationships with close ones are frequently unstable.
3. Disrupting Self-image:People with BPD often struggle with a distorted self-image, feeling guilty or ashamed, and viewing themselves as “bad.” They may abruptly change their goals, opinions, careers, or friends, and tend to sabotage their progress. This might include purposefully failing a test, damaging relationships, or getting fired from a job.
4. Mood Swings:People with BPD may feel sudden shifts in their emotions towards others, themselves, and the world. Unpredictable feelings like uncontrollable anger, fear, anxiety, hatred, sadness, and love can change rapidly. These emotional swings typically last only a few hours and rarely extend beyond a few days.
5. Anger Issues:Individuals with BPD find it hard to manage their anger and can become intensely upset. Their anger may be expressed through biting sarcasm, bitterness, or angry tirades. After these episodes, they often experience feelings of shame and guilt.
6. Paranoid Thoughts:Extreme stress can trigger temporary dissociative episodes, paranoid thoughts, and sometimes hallucinations in people with BPD. These symptoms are generally not severe enough to be considered a separate disorder.

An individual suffering from BPD must consult a doctor. Diagnosing BPD doesn’t involve a specific test, so it may take time and a thorough evaluation. Your doctor will discuss your symptoms with you and may also gather information from previous healthcare providers or interview friends and family to understand your behaviour in relationships.