Home Health What is Borderline Personality Disorder?

What is Borderline Personality Disorder?

What is Borderline Personality Disorder?
Image by Małgorzata Tomczak from Pixabay

Borderline personality disorder can affect your overall wellbeing and ability to function. If you are suffering from symptoms of borderline personality disorder, you may benefit from transference-focused psychotherapy. You can find a therapist and start improving your mental health today at BetterHelp.

Borderline Personality Disorder

There is a lot of misinformation about borderline personality disorder and the types of symptoms associated with it. A borderline personality disorder is a mental health disorder that can affect your ability to function, your thoughts, and your feelings. It can coincide with negative self-image or stress and emotional management. It can also impact your relationships and ability to be productive at work. 

It causes a strong fear of abandonment, and some people who suffer from borderline personality disorder strongly dislike being alone. It can also cause anger, irritability, and mood swings that may make it difficult to have long-term loving relationships. 

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Image by Mary Pahlke from Pixabay

Typically, symptoms begin to affect an individual during early adulthood. However, the symptoms may lessen as the individual gets older. A borderline personality disorder is very treatable, and treatment can help a person get better gradually and learn to live a full life. 

Signs and Symptoms

Borderline personality disorder can impact how you feel about yourself, your behaviors, and how you form and sustain relationships. People who suffer often feel a strong fear of being abandoned and will go to extreme lengths to avoid rejection or separation. 

It can also cause a person to have difficulty in their relationships and can cause rapid fluctuation in feelings about their current relationships. They may have strong affection towards someone one moment and then the next moment suddenly feels like the person is mean or does not care about them. 

A borderline personality disorder may also cause quick changed in self-image. This may mean that the person will change their ideals and goals. In severe cases, this may cause the person to see themselves as completely negative or even see themselves as nonexistent. This may coincide with a loss of reality or extreme paranoia that correlates with stress levels. 

People who suffer often engage in unhealthy, impulsive behaviors. They could participate in unsafe sex, drug abuse, gambling, or reckless driving. Some people who suffer may also make suicidal threats, especially in relation to their fear of rejection or abandonment. 

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The person who suffers may experience rapid mood swings that can last hours or days. They could feel intense euphoria, anger, anxiety, or shame during these mood swings. They may also have a continuing feeling of emptiness. 

People with borderline personality disorder often have difficulty maintaining their relationships, careers, education, and social lives. This may cause complications such as losing a job, frequent job changes, involvement in unhealthy relationships, or attempted suicide. It also often coincides with other mental health issues such as anxiety or depression. 


The cause of borderline personality disorder is not completely understood, but there are risk factors contributing to the disorder. Genetics may be a factor, and personality disorders may be inherited. Brain abnormalities such as imbalances or functionality issues with brain chemicals and other changes may be related to borderline personality disorder cases. 

A stressful or traumatic childhood may increase the risk of developing it as well. Abuse, neglect, separation from parents or loved ones, and unstable relationships may all play a role in the development of the disorder. 


Borderline personality disorder can negatively impact every aspect of a person’s life. However, it is also treatable with therapy, medication, or a combination of the two. If you have some of the symptoms related to borderline personality disorder, you may want to have a conversation with a therapist about your options. 


Featured Image by Małgorzata Tomczak from Pixabay