How to tell if someone is borderline?

Signs and symptoms may include:
  1. An intense fear of abandonment, even going to extreme measures to avoid real or imagined separation or rejection.
  2. A pattern of unstable intense relationships, such as idealizing someone one moment and then suddenly believing the person doesn't care enough or is cruel.
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What are the 9 symptoms of BPD?

The 9 symptoms of BPD
  • Fear of abandonment. People with BPD are often terrified of being abandoned or left alone. ...
  • Unstable relationships. ...
  • Unclear or shifting self-image. ...
  • Impulsive, self-destructive behaviors. ...
  • Self-harm. ...
  • Extreme emotional swings. ...
  • Chronic feelings of emptiness. ...
  • Explosive anger.
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How does a person with borderline personality act?

People with borderline personality disorder may experience intense mood swings and feel uncertainty about how they see themselves. Their feelings for others can change quickly, and swing from extreme closeness to extreme dislike. These changing feelings can lead to unstable relationships and emotional pain.
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How can you tell if a guy is borderline?

In general, men with BPD are:
  1. Highly sensitive to criticism, and aggressive in response to perceived insults or put-downs.
  2. Overly controlling in relationships.
  3. Intensely jealous and possessive.
  4. Quick to become disillusioned with others, and openly expressive of their contempt.
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What are the red flags for borderline personality disorder?

intense, unstable relationship patterns of idealization and devaluation. persistent and unstable sense of self or self-image. potentially self-damaging impulsive behavior. recurrent suicide attempts, suicide ideation, or self-harm.
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How to Spot the 9 Traits of Borderline Personality Disorder



What is the biggest symptom of BPD?

With borderline personality disorder, you have an intense fear of abandonment or instability, and you may have difficulty tolerating being alone. Yet inappropriate anger, impulsiveness and frequent mood swings may push others away, even though you want to have loving and lasting relationships.
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Do borderlines have empathy?

People with BPD score low on cognitive empathy but high on emotional empathy. This suggests that they do not easily understand other peoples' perspectives, but their own emotions are very sensitive. This is important because it could align BPD with other neurodiverse conditions.
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What aggravates borderline personality?

Separations, disagreements, and rejections—real or perceived—are the most common triggers for symptoms. A person with BPD is highly sensitive to abandonment and being alone, which brings about intense feelings of anger, fear, suicidal thoughts and self-harm, and very impulsive decisions.
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What are some rarely known signs for BPD?

Uncommon BPD Symptoms
  • Have food habits that strongly resemble those found in a person with bulimia or anorexia.
  • Experience mood alterations that closely mimic major depression or less severe forms of depression.
  • Experience the potentially extreme manic episodes found in people with bipolar disorder.
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What is quiet borderline personality?

Having quiet borderline personality disorder (BPD) — aka “high-functioning” BPD — means that you often direct thoughts and feelings inward rather than outward. As a result, you may experience the intense, turbulent thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that characterize BPD, but you try to hide them from others.
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What can a BPD episode look like?

Impulsive and often dangerous behaviors, such as spending sprees, unsafe sex, substance abuse, reckless driving and binge eating. Recurring suicidal behaviors or threats or self-harming behavior, such as cutting. Intense and highly changeable moods, with each episode lasting from a few hours to a few days.
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Are borderlines clingy?

People with BPD can act overly needy. If you take them out of their comfort zone, or when they feel “abandoned” they can become a burden.
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Do borderlines know they hurt you?

Often, the borderline person is unaware of how they feel when their feelings surface, so they displace their feelings onto others as causing them. They may not realise that their feelings belong within them, so they think that their partner is responsible for hurting them and causing them to feel this way.
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What are people with borderline personality good at?

Bold – Impulsivity is a BPD trait that can be positively linked to being bold, courageous and having the ability to speak one's mind. Creative – The high intensity of emotions can be released into creative endeavours. Many people with BPD put their entire emotional expression into music, art, performance and writing.
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Do borderlines get worse with age?

Case studies and clinical experience suggest that features of BPD can be exacerbated in old age due to contextual changes, even causing a growing prevalence of BPD in residential care and psychiatric facilities for the elderly [55,56,57,58].
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What are the best jobs for someone with BPD?

Many people with BPD feel emotions deeply and find working in a caring role fulfilling. If you are an empathetic person, consider jobs such as teaching, childcare, nursing and animal care.
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Do borderlines use Gaslighting?

Gaslighting is by no means unique to individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD), but certain symptoms make it more likely for people with BPD to feel gaslighted by others and create circumstances where others feel gaslighted by them. Gaps in memory result from dissociation.
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Do borderlines love their favorite person?

Borderline Personality Disorder

However, because of the nature of this condition, the favorite person connection may sometimes swing between extreme love and attachment, to a strong dislike. This switch may occur when the person with BPD perceives that their emotional needs aren't being adequately met.
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Can borderlines ever be happy?

The stigma around BPD is pervasive, but many people get better. With treatment, it's possible to go on to lead a happy and healthy life.
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What are the 5 signs of borderline personality disorder?

DSM-5 Diagnostic Criteria for BPD
  • fear of abandonment.
  • unstable or changing relationships.
  • unstable self-image, including struggles with sense of self and identity.
  • stress-related paranoia.
  • anger regulation problems, including frequent loss of temper or physical fights.
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What are the traits of BPD in females?

You may have severe mood swings over a short space of time. It's common for people with BPD to feel suicidal with despair, and then feel reasonably positive a few hours later.
...
Emotional instability
  • rage.
  • sorrow.
  • shame.
  • panic.
  • terror.
  • long-term feelings of emptiness and loneliness.
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What are BPD attacks like?

When a person has BPD, they often experience periods of intense feelings of anger, anxiety, or depression that can last for a few hours or a few days. The mood swings experienced by people with BPD can lead to issues with impulsive behavior and can contribute to relationship problems.
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How are borderlines manipulative?

Although manipulation has ceased to be a recognized symptom of BPD, persons with this disorder are still often perceived as using manipulative strategies to ensure that their needs are met. This becomes evident from even cursory online research on the diagnosis.
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