The key difference between BPD and C-PTSD is that symptoms of BPD stem from an inconsistent self-concept and C-PTSD symptoms are provoked by external triggers. A person with C-PTSD may react to or avoid potential triggers with behaviors similar to those that are symptomatic of BPD.
One such pairing is Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Because of the overlap in symptoms and shared association with trauma, it's not uncommon for the symptoms of one to be mistaken for the other, or for one condition to be missed when someone has both.
PTSD is focused on an extremely traumatic incident or a series of incidents and the symptoms tend to be outwardly noticeable, whereas BPD revolves around the fear of abandonment and tends to be inwardly displayed (self-harm, self-deprecation, self-doubt).”
However, people with CPTSD will often over-regulate their emotions. This means that they tend to numb their emotions by withdrawing or dissociating. People with BPD, though, can often under-regulate their emotions, causing their emotions to explode out of them in fits of anger or even self-harm.
People living with bipolar disorder might experience energy moods (mania or hypomania), low-energy moods (depression), or both. PTSD doesn't share key symptoms of mania, which include high energy, heightened self-esteem, and feel rejuvenated even after not getting enough sleep.
PTSD and BPD Co-Occurrence
Between 25% and 60% of people with BPD also have PTSD—a rate that is much higher than what is seen in the general population.
The key difference between BPD and C-PTSD is that symptoms of BPD stem from an inconsistent self-concept and C-PTSD symptoms are provoked by external triggers. A person with C-PTSD may react to or avoid potential triggers with behaviors similar to those that are symptomatic of BPD.
People who trauma dump tend to have intense feelings, express emotion excessively and share indiscriminately. In some instances you could have an underlying problem such as borderline personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression that affects your behavior.
Mood swings: To an untrained eye, a PTSD response could look like a panic attack, an overreaction, or unnecessary dramatization. When a person with BPD feels threatened or fears abandonment, their response could look the exact same way.
One of the most common misdiagnoses for BPD is bipolar disorder. Both conditions have episodes of mood instability. When you have bipolar disorder, your mood may shift from depression to mania, in which you experience elation, elevated energy levels and a decreased need for sleep.
Women with PTSD may be more likely than men with PTSD to: Be easily startled. Have more trouble feeling emotions or feel numb. Avoid things that remind them of the trauma.
Stressful or traumatic life events
Often having felt afraid, upset, unsupported or invalidated. Family difficulties or instability, such as living with a parent or carer who experienced an addiction. Sexual, physical or emotional abuse or neglect. Losing a parent.
Conclusion: Finding that appears relatively consistent is that PTSD is positively related to negative emotionality, neuroticism, harm avoidance, novelty-seeking and self-transcendence, as well as to trait hostility/anger and trait anxiety.
Some of the symptoms of complex PTSD are very similar to those of borderline personality disorder (BPD), and not all professionals are aware of complex PTSD. As a result, some people are given a diagnosis of BPD or another personality disorder when complex PTSD fits their experiences more closely.
For example, while a person with typical BPD might show outward signs of rage, a person with quiet BPD might turn that rage inward and engage in self destructive behaviors. Similarly, a person with typical BPD might have crying fits or throw tantrums, while someone with quiet BPD will become moody and withdrawn.
In the past, mental health professionals have contemplated classifying CPTSD as a replacement diagnosis for BPD and other times as a subtype of BPD, according to research from 2014 . But a 2021 review suggests that these are two distinct conditions that cancoexist at the same time.
For someone with this type of BPD relationship, a “favorite person” is someone they rely on for comfort, happiness, and validation. The relationship with a BPD favorite person may start healthy, but it can often turn into a toxic love-hate cycle known as idealization and devaluation.
BPD splitting is a symptom of borderline personality disorder (BPD). It's when a person sees everything as black or white, good or bad, or best or worst. Splitting is a defense mechanism people living with BPD use to deal with emotions (such as the fear of abandonment) that they cannot handle.
Disassociation is also common in people who have PTSD. As with many other mental health conditions, it can be in varying degrees. You can have temporary symptoms of disassociation, or be diagnosed with a complex dissociative disorder.
The emotional experience of psychological trauma can have long-term cognitive effects. The hallmark symptoms of PTSD involve alterations to cognitive processes such as memory, attention, planning, and problem solving, underscoring the detrimental impact that negative emotionality has on cognitive functioning.
There are four medications currently recommended as first-choice options to treat PTSD. Zoloft (sertraline) and Paxil (paroxetine) are FDA approved to treat PTSD. But Prozac (fluoxetine) and Effexor XR (venlafaxine) are also good first-choice options, even though they're not officially approved for PTSD.