Have you ever felt lost? Like you’re not quite yourself? Do you find yourself obsessing over the possibility that your friends secretly hate you? Everybody experiences these feelings from time to time, but if your paranoia and anxiety are dominating your mind, it may be time to consider the possibility that you’re struggling with borderline personality disorder (commonly abbreviated as BPD). In this article, we’ll take a closer look at what BPD is, how it affects people, and what you can do if you’re struggling.
What is Borderline Personality Disorder?
Borderline personality disorder is a serious mental illness that is often misunderstood. Many people are put off by the term “personality disorder” and assume that this means their personalities are inherently flawed. But nothing could be further from the truth! “Personality disorder” is simply a diagnostic term used to characterize the facets of mental health disorders that have a profound impact on a person’s emotions, thoughts, and relationships. There are many different personality disorders, and these include schizotypal personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, and narcissistic personality disorder.
Borderline personality disorder is characterized by impulsivity, paranoia, and instability in interpersonal relationships. These symptoms often occur because people who have borderline personality disorder struggle to develop secure attachments to other people. Although researchers are currently unable to identify a singular root cause for personality disorders, borderline personality disorder often results from a combination of childhood trauma and genetic brain abnormalities. It is therefore unsurprising that this combination of factors can result in difficulties with self-esteem and relationships with others.
What Are The Symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder?
Like any other mental illness, borderline personality disorder is a very personal and individual experience, so a singular list of symptoms cannot account for all the expected variations in symptoms. However, we can provide an overview of a few standard symptoms, including:
- Excessive fear of abandonment
- Paranoid thoughts about friends or loved ones leaving you, talking about you behind your back, or being “out to get you”
- Frequent mood swings
- Intense emotional outbursts
- Short periods of extreme anger
- Difficulty maintaining long-term, stable friendships or romantic relationships
- A pattern of risky or impulsive behavior, especially in regard to promiscuity and substance abuse
- Black-and-white-thinking
The term “black and white thinking” is used to refer to a thought process that exists on a spectrum of extremes. Another good term for this is “all or nothing” thinking. This symptom can occur with many mental health conditions, not just BPD, but it can be one of the most frustrating symptoms for people with BPD and for the people who love them. “Black and white thinking” can manifest in some extreme and rigid thought processes such as, “Either you love me or you hate me,” or “You’re either perfect or I hate you.”
This type of thought process often fails to account for typical variations in human behavior. For example, someone with BPD might feel a sudden surge of aggression towards their loving partner or believe that that loving partner hates them if they cancel a date or forget to reply to a text. Both of these things are fairly typical occurrences that can happen within the context of a stable and loving relationship. But because people who have BPD are deeply afraid of abandonment, this fear– combined with “black and white thinking”– can cause someone with BPD to develop the irrational belief that their partner hates them. Understandably, this belief– and the accusations and arguments which might follow– can be very upsetting for people with BPD and their partners.
These are just a few of the most common symptoms associated with borderline personality disorder. People who struggle with BPD may have trouble regulating their emotions and, as a result, the symptoms associated with emotional dysregulation can be debilitating. People living with undiagnosed borderline personality disorder may struggle to hold down a job or maintain healthy relationships with other people.
Many people who have borderline personality disorder have reported feeling a chronic sense of emptiness in addition to periods of dissociation. When a person is dissociating, they may feel as though they are existing outside of their bodies or that they are not themselves. If someone is experiencing paranoia and dissociation at the same time, they may struggle to tell the difference between reality and fantasy. This can also create difficulties with maintaining long term relationships and stable careers.
How to Get Help For Borderline Personality Disorder
If you or someone you love is struggling with BPD, it’s easy to feel frustrated, out of control, or even a little bit hopeless. But the good news is that, even though BPD can make you feel unstable, it can be managed with the right treatment plan. In fact, people who have borderline personality disorder are absolutely able to live happy, healthy, and stable lives! So, if you think you or someone you love is experiencing the symptoms of BPD, there are a few steps you can take to get help.
Taking a borderline personality disorder test is a good place to start. This test from Mind Diagnostics is free, easy to use, and confidential. Although this test is not meant to serve as a replacement for a professional diagnosis, it is a good way to conduct a self-assessment of your symptoms. As you take this test, you will be asked to answer a short series of questions about your symptoms and the way they’re affecting your quality of life. When you have finished answering the questions, you will be redirected to a screen with some information about your results and the resources that are available to you.
These resources will include the contact information of a licensed therapist who is qualified to treat BPD. If you choose to connect with a therapist, they can help you develop a personalized treatment plan. Everyone’s experience with BPD is different and the same is true of treatment plans. But, in most cases, BPD is treated through a combination of therapy and medication. When you connect with a licensed mental health professional, you can learn more about the treatment plan that is right for you, and develop a strategy that will empower you to reclaim control of your life.