It affects people's thoughts, emotions and behaviours, making it difficult for them to cope in all areas of life. We all see the world through different eyes, but a person with borderline personality disorder has an abnormally distorted view of themselves and the environment around them.
People with BPD also have a tendency to think in extremes, a phenomenon called "dichotomous" or “black-or-white” thinking. 3 People with BPD often struggle to see the complexity in people and situations and are unable to recognize that things are often not either perfect or horrible, but are something in between.
BPD patients can experience hallucinations or even delusions similar to schizophrenia. Patients with BPD had higher scores in Psychotic Symptoms Rating Scales (PSYRATS) in the amount and degree of malicious content and distress from auditory verbal hallucinations, compared to patients with schizophrenia.
The existence and severity of hallucinations in BPD patients are closely related to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), prior childhood adversities, as well as current adult life stressor. Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) were reported to be the most commonly observed types of hallucinations in patients with BPD.
When stressed, people with borderline personality disorder may develop psychotic-like symptoms. They experience a distortion of their perceptions or beliefs rather than a distinct break with reality. Especially in close relationships, they tend to misinterpret or amplify what other people feel about them.
People with Borderline Personality Disorder instinctively 'mirror' to fit in, because without that behaviour, we have no idea what will happen. We have little or no sense of our own identity, so we can't know if that will be acceptable to others.
What are the conditions that may drive a person in their manipulative behavior? In BPD, these conditions are a lack of affective self-understanding, difficulties with regulating one's own emotions, and an impeded interaffectivity that makes it incredibly difficult for the person to feel connected with other people.
Adult patients with BPD experience a wide range of other psychotic symptoms in addition to AVH, including hallucinations (11% visual hallucinations, 8% gustatory hallucinations, 17% olfactory hallucinations, 15% tactile hallucinations [19]), thought insertion (100%), thought blocking (90%), being influenced by another ...
Auditory hallucinations and paranoid delusions seem to be the most common psychotic symptoms in patients with BPD. Much effort has been made to better distinguish between psychotic symptoms in BPD and those that occur in psychotic disorders, most notably schizophrenia.
Conclusions. Delusions in patients with BPD occur frequently and cause distress. Contrary to tenacious beliefs, hallucinations and delusions in participants with BPD are often present in an intermittent or persistent pattern. Persistent hallucinations can be severe, causing disruption of life.
Individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPDs) become overwhelmed and incapacitated by the intensity of their emotions, whether it is joy and elation or depression, anxiety, and rage. They are unable to manage these intense emotions.
People with borderline personality disorders are aware of their behaviors and the consequences of them and often act in increasingly erratic ways as a self-fulfilling prophecy to their abandonment fears.
Unstable sense of self, which may involve frequent shifts in goals, values, and career plans. Frequently changing your feelings toward other people. Feeling like you don't exist. Frequent feelings of emptiness or boredom.
The symptoms of BPD are very broad, and some can be similar to or overlap with other mental health problems, such as: Bipolar disorder. Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD) Depression.
A pattern of intense and unstable relationships with family, friends, and loved ones. A distorted and unstable self-image or sense of self. Impulsive and often dangerous behaviors, such as spending sprees, unsafe sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, and binge eating.
Disturbed patterns of thinking
Different types of thoughts can affect people with BPD, including: upsetting thoughts – such as thinking you're a terrible person or feeling you do not exist. You may not be sure of these thoughts and may seek reassurance that they're not true.
Once upset, borderline people are often unable to think straight or calm themselves in a healthy way. They may say hurtful things or act out in dangerous or inappropriate ways.
BPD splitting ruins relationships since the person can misconstrue the behaviours of others when their feelings are brought up in the relationship. Often, the borderline person is unaware of how they feel when their feelings surface, so they displace their feelings onto others as causing them.
Paranoia as a Symptom of BPD
Under the influence of non-delusional paranoia, people with BPD may see signs and symbols of hostile intent everywhere. They may detect hidden meanings in speech, body language, casual glances, and other behaviors that would seem non-threatening or perfectly benign to anyone else.
For example, an adolescent with BPD might see two of his friends talking in the hallway and develop the paranoid belief that his friends all secretly hate him and are planning to humiliate him.
It's rare for borderline personality disorder (BPD) and schizophrenia to occur together, but it is possible.
BPD is a very different diagnosis than schizophrenia, though the two can co-exist. While BPD is characterized by a pattern of instability in interpersonal relationships; schizophrenia is characterized by a range of cognitive, behavioral, and emotional dysfunctions.
Lying, like other signs and symptoms of the condition, tends to occur because the person with BPD is unable to regulate their feelings and impulses. It's an act borne out of pain and fear. Often, people with BPD even believe their own lies.
Expecting Others To Act Selfishly Is A Key Symptom Of Borderline Personality Disorder. Contributor.
It can be easy to fall into a victim mentality with borderline personality disorder (BPD). You can often feel like your brain is working against you and making life unnecessarily hard. However, treating yourself as a victim can be detrimental and prevent you from recovering and moving on from traumatic events.