According to the DSM-5 (APA, 2014) BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder) may be associated with deliberate physical self-harm in the absence of suicidal intent. But another author (Thadani, Pérez-García, & Bermúdez, 2018), states that “its essential characteristic can be considered its recurrent pattern of instability in personal relationships, marked impulsivity, and self-image distortions that occur in various contexts of their lives.” (p. 90-91)

Borderline personality disorder affects how you feel about yourself, how you relate to others, and how you behave.

Signs and symptoms may include the following:

• An intense fear of abandonment, even going to extreme measures to avoid real or imagined separation or rejection.
• A pattern of intense unstable relationships, such as idealizing a person for a moment and then believing that person to be uninterested or cruel
• Rapid changes in identity and self-image that include changing goals and values, and seeing yourself as a bad person and as if you don’t exist
• Periods of stress-related paranoia and loss of contact with reality, which can last from a few minutes to a few hours
• Impulsive and risky behavior, such as gambling, reckless driving, unsafe sex, spending sprees, binge eating or drug abuse, or sabotaging success by suddenly quitting a good job or ending a positive relationship
• Suicidal threats or behaviors or self-harm, often in response to fear of separation or rejection
• Major mood swings that can last from a few hours to a few days, which may include intense happiness, irritability, embarrassment, or anxiety
• Ongoing feelings of emptiness
• Intense, inappropriate anger, such as losing one’s temper frequently, being sarcastic or bitter, or getting into physical fights