What is (BPD) Borderline Personality Disorder?

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a mental health condition that affects the way people feel about themselves and others; it causes unstable moods and reckless behavior. Managing emotions, daily tasks, and life events can be hard for someone struggling. The up-and-down relationships with family and friends become a pattern, such as believing someone is perfect one moment and then suddenly believing the person doesn't care enough or is cruel.

People with borderline personality disorder have strong fears and reactions to abandonment or being left alone. It leads to impulsiveness and self-injury that may push others away. This includes going to extreme measures so you're not separated or rejected, even if these fears are made up.

A changing sense of self can cause sudden changes in goals and values. Feeling disconnected from themselves, their body, or reality, or having paranoid thoughts. Ongoing feelings of emptiness. Self-destructive behaviors, such as substance use or misuse, binge eating, gambling, reckless spending, and unstable/toxic romantic relationships.  Periods of stress-related paranoia and loss of contact with reality, these periods can last from a few minutes to a few hours.

They are sabotaging success by suddenly quitting a good job or ending a positive relationship. Wide mood swings that last from a few hours to a few days. These mood swings can include periods of being very happy, irritable, anxious, or feeling shame. The most common Ongoing feelings of emptiness. Inappropriate, strong anger, such as losing your temper often, being sarcastic or bitter, or physically fighting.

BPD Splitting

BPD splitting creates a roller coaster effect, because when the person likes something, they love it, and when they dislike something, they despise it. It’s important to emphasize that the person doing the splitting will not have a lot of conscious awareness of it. They will only think that their feelings are justified and based, on logic, and rational thinking. In actuality, their feelings are based on the typical motivations of BPD, including fear of abandonment, unstable relationships, and inconsistent self-image.

Ways to Cope

• Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT): Helps people understand and manage their emotions.

• Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): Helps people understand how their thoughts lead to actions and redirect those thoughts so better actions can occur.

• Taking Medically Prescribed Prescriptions

• Guided Meditation

• Talking to someone you trust ( friend, family member, therapist)

• Shadow Work,

• Mood Diary

• Exercise