BPD

Symptoms Rundown

Emotional Intensity

Instability in Perceptions

Black-and-white thinking. Splitting. Emotional reasoning. Global labeling. Feelings dictate perception of things. What is great in the moment I'm happy, can be horrible the moment I'm sad.

• Reality is split into different parts based on the feeling of the moment. When mood shifts, perception of reality shifts.
• Concepts or models of myself and others are uncertain and everchanging; difficulty knowing who I am or who others are.
• What I think about things changes entirely based on mood.
• Perception of others can shift between extremes of devaluation and idealization:
• Being angry at someone or focusing on parts of others that I don't like makes me think that person is horrible, awful, disgusting, mean, evil, callous, manipulative, etc. I view them as an enemy, I hate them, want to hurt and reject them and wish they would die.
• Loving, admiring, caring for or being in love with a person makes me think that person is awesome, great, delightful, lovely, free of fault, perfect, my best friend, the one, my true love, the greatest thing I've ever experienced. They are always kind to me and I can trust them completely.

Self-Image and Relational Issues

• Unclear and uncertain identity, not knowing who I am or what I want, due to a history of invalidation, bullying and mistreatment over who I am as a person (being myself is not safe, people will harm me if I am myself); an approval-seeking style where the focus is what others think of me over who I am inside.
• Intense sensitivity to criticism, invalidation, disrespect, being misunderstood
• Intense sensitivity to rejection or exclusion, feels like being disliked and devalued, like people don't care about me or my feelings, don't think I'm worthy or loveable.