Therapists view patients of borderline personality disorder as being unstable, overly anxious, dissociative, and has severe lack of identity or self-image. Aside from these basic assumptions, therapists and mental health professionals also have the following criterion to properly diagnose the disorder:
· Does not acknowledge perceived or real abandonment – rejection and imminent separation can initiate intense changes in the patient’s self-image and behavior. They may think that they were abandoned because they were bad. People with borderline personality disorder are afraid to be alone and their constant need to be with other people is a proof of this. They try and avoid being alone or abandoned by doing self-mutilation or thinking of suicide.
· Almost all or most of their relationships are unstable and very intense – their perception of their lover or their caregiver is always idealized or according to their own reality. Those who are afflicted with borderline personality disorder become intimate too quickly with their lover and demand that they should spend more time together. But they can also devalue their lovers as quickly as they fell in love or trusted that person. They need to be in contact physically with other people for them to feel that they loved.
·  Unstable or lack of self-image – sudden changes in self-image of people with borderline personality disorder can be triggered by changing their goals, making career choices and changing their core values. Their perception of the world, other people and themselves are either good or bad; nothing in between. They may also perceive themselves as being nonexistent at all. This is causes when the patient does not feel enough love and support.
· Impulsive behavior that can be self-damaging – patients with borderline personality disorder worry too much all the time. To relieve themselves, they often resort to substance abuse, promiscuous sex, gambling, and even overeating.
· Periodic suicidal attempts and self-mutilation – suicide and self-mutilation are the fastest way to relieve themselves from worries or purge them of ‘evil’. Those who have borderline personality disorder often do these things because of disappointment and inner anguish.
· Erratic mood swings – those who have borderline personality disorder have mood swings that last for only a couple of hours to almost a day.
· Recurrent tendency to feel emptiness – borderlines constantly want to do new things because they become bored easily.
· Have difficulty controlling their anger and often display sarcasm or verbal abuses other people.
· Exhibits dissociation and transient paranoia – some borderlines may even develop psychotic-like signs and symptoms.

Filed under: Borderline Personality Disorder • Borderline Personality Treatment

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