Borderline Personality Disorder

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a condition characterized by difficulties regulating emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. People with BPD tend to experience intense and unstable emotions, seeing things in black-and-white terms. They struggle with a poor sense of self, often feeling empty or having shifting perspectives on their identity. Intense fears of abandonment can lead to strained interpersonal relationships and impulsive behaviors as they desperately try to avoid real or imagined rejection.

Those with BPD may switch between idealizing others and then rapidly being disappointed with them. They are often viewed as dramatic, emotional, or demanding while feeling lonely and misunderstood. BPD causes significant emotional distress and disruption in relationships, school, work, and other areas of life.

Several risk factors are believed to contribute to the development of Borderline Personality Disorder. Genetics and biology likely play a role, as BPD seems to run in families. Environmental factors early in life also increase risk, especially chronic childhood trauma or abandonment. Those who experience physical, emotional, or sexual abuse as children are at greater risk for BPD.

An unstable or invalidating home environment could also nurture BPD development. Moreover, learning to express emotions appropriately as a child is important to identity, and self-concept issues stem from negative interactions with primary caregivers. When caretakers are cold, withdrawn, inattentive, aggressive, or inconsistent, one’s sense of self can become fractured. Without positive environmental or familial influences, one does not develop effective coping strategies for difficult emotions. The complex interplay between biological vulnerability and poor environmental nurturing places one at heightened risk for borderline pathology.¹