Borderline Personality Disorder: Signs & Dangers

Mentioned below are some of the most common characteristics of borderline personality disorder that a person diagnosed with this condition may exhibit:

Fear of Abandonment

Many people fighting borderline personality disorder are terrified of being left alone or abandoned. Even something as minor as a loved one coming home late from work or going away for a meeting may trigger intense fear in them. What follows is a prompt and frantic effort to keep the other person close, which may involve begging, being clingy, fighting, or even tracking every movement of their loved one. Unfortunately, all these efforts do the very opposite of what people with BPD are trying to accomplish by pushing their loved ones farther from them.

Unstable Relationships

Most relationships between people with borderline personality disorder are short-lived and intense. They may fall in love quickly, believing that every new person will make them feel whole, but they are disappointed very quickly. For them, their relationships are either horrible or perfect without any middle ground. The family members, friends, and other loved ones of a person with BPD often feel like experiencing emotional whiplash due to their rapid swings from idealization to anger, hate, and devaluation in relationships.

Shifting Self-Image

When someone develops borderline personality disorder, their sense of self becomes unstable. They may feel good about themselves one day but quickly turn to hate themselves a few days later. Such people lack a clear idea of who they are or what they want in life. As a result, they frequently change their friends, values, lovers, religions, goals, aims, and even sexual identities.

Impulsive and Damaging Behaviors

Borderline personality disorder often triggers people to engage in sensation-seeking, potentially harmful behaviors, especially when stressed or upset. For example, they may impulsively spend money they cannot afford, drive recklessly, binge-eat, consume alcohol or drugs, or engage in risky sex. These behaviors often help them feel better in the moment but end up hurting them in the long run.

Self-harm

Self-harm and suicidal tendencies are prevalent in people with borderline personality disorder. Such people commonly think about suicide and even make attempts or threats to act on their plans. Some common forms of self-harm for such people include burning or cutting themselves.

Extreme Emotional Swings

Unstable moods and rapid mood swings are extremely common in people with BPD. One moment, they may feel extremely happy and confident; the next, they may suddenly become despondent. The slightest and apparently insignificant things that most people easily brush off can send these patients into an emotional tailspin and perpetuate mood swings that are most intense but pass fairly quickly. For most people, these mood swings last from a few minutes to a few hours.

Chronic Feelings of Emptiness

People with a borderline personality disorder often talk about feeling empty from the inside. They may also believe they are a nobody to an uncomfortable extent and often try to fill this void with unhealthy behaviors, such as using drugs or food.

Explosive Anger

Most individuals with BPD struggle with a short temper and intense anger. They may also find it difficult to control themselves once something triggers them. Throwing things, yelling, or getting consumed by rage are common characteristics of a typical anger episode.

Losing Touch with Reality

People with borderline personality disorder also frequently develop suspicions or paranoia about others’ motives or intentions. They may also lose touch with reality, especially under stressful situations, through a phenomenon called dissociation.