Quiz for BPD
Do You Often…
Feel “empty,” like there is no good reason to get up and face the day?
Experience extreme mood changes, like going from extreme sadness to anger to anxiety?
Feel anxious or fearful?
Feel afraid that the people you care about will abandon you?
Do reckless or dangerous things, like binge drinking, using drugs or going on spending sprees?
Feel like hurting yourself, such as cutting or thinking of suicide?
Lash out at friends or family members?
Symptoms of BPD from the Mayo Clinic
People with BPD often have an unstable sense of who they are. That is, their self-image or sense of self often rapidly changes. They typically view themselves as evil or bad, and sometimes they may feel as if they don't exist at all. This unstable self-image can lead to frequent changes in jobs, friendships, goals, values and gender identity.
Relationships are usually in turmoil. People with BPD often experience a love-hate relationship with others. They may idealize someone one moment and then abruptly and dramatically shift to fury and hate over perceived slights or even misunderstandings. This is because people with the disorder have difficulty accepting gray areas — things are either black or white. For instance, in the eyes of a person with BPD, someone is either good or evil. And that same person may be good one day and evil the next.
In addition, people with BPD often engage in impulsive and risky behavior. This behavior often winds up hurting them, whether emotionally, financially or physically. For instance, they may drive recklessly, engage in unsafe sex, take illicit drugs or go on spending or gambling sprees. People with BPD also often engage in suicidal behavior or deliberately injure themselves for emotional relief.
Other signs and symptoms of borderline personality disorder may include:
Strong emotions that wax and wane frequently
Intense but short episodes of anxiety or depression
Inappropriate anger, sometimes escalating into physical confrontations
Difficulty controlling emotions or impulses
Fear of being alone
If you recognize that you might have BPD and would like some help, fill out the New Patient Contact Form or schedule an Intake Appointment.
Symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder from the DSM-5
1. UNSTABLE NEGATIVE EMOTIONS
Having unstable emotional experiences and mood changes; having emotions that are easily aroused, intense, and/or out of proportion to events and circumstances.
2. NEGATIVE EMOTIONALITY: SELF-HARM
Engaging in thoughts and behaviors related to self-harm (e.g., intentional cutting or burning) and suicide, including suicidal ideation, threats, gestures, and attempts.
3. NEGATIVE EMOTIONALITY: SEPARATION INSECURITY
Fears of rejection by, and/or separation from, significant others; distress when significant others are not present or readily available.
4. NEGATIVE EMOTIONALITY: ANXIOUSNESS
Feelings of nervousness, tenseness, and/or being on edge; worry about past unpleasant experiences and future negative possibilities; feeling fearful and threatened by uncertainty.
5. NEGATIVE EMOTIONALITY: LOW SELF-ESTEEM
Having a poor opinion of one’s self and abilities; believing that one is worthless or useless; disliking or being dissatisfied with one’s self; believing that one cannot do things or do them well.
6. NEGATIVE EMOTIONALITY: DEPRESSIVITY
Having frequent feelings of being down/ miserable/ depressed/ hopeless; difficulty “bounding back” from such moods; belief that one is simply a sad/ depressed person.
7. ANTAGONISM: HOSTILITY
Irritability, hot temperedness; being unfriendly, rude, surly, or nasty; responding angrily to minor slights and insults.
8. ANTAGONISM: AGGRESSION
Being mean, cruel, or cold-hearted; verbally, relationally, or physically abusive; humiliating and demeaning of others; willingly and willfully engaging in acts of violence against persons and objects; active and open belligerence or vengefulness; using dominance and intimidation to control others.
9. DISINHIBITION: IMPULSIVITY
Acting on the spur-of-the-moment in response to immediate stimuli; acting on a momentary basis without a plan or consideration of outcomes; difficulty establishing and following plans; failure to learn from experience.
10. SCHIZOTYPY: DISSOCIATION PRONENESS
Tendency to experience disruptions in the flow of conscious experience; “losing time,” (e.g., being unaware of how one got to one’s location); experiencing one’s surroundings as strange or unreal.
Individuals who match this personality disorder type have an extremely fragile self-concept that is easily disrupted and fragmented under stress and results in the experience of a lack of identity or chronic feelings of emptiness. As a result, they have an impoverished and/or unstable self structure and difficulty maintaining enduring intimate relationships.