DSM-IV-TR criteria
The latest version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR), the widely-used American Psychiatric Association guide for clinicians seeking to diagnose mental illnesses, defines Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) as: "a pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image and affects, as well as marked impulsivity, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts."[14] BPD is classed on "Axis II", as an underlying pervasive or personality condition, rather than "Axis I" for more circumscribed mental disorders. A DSM diagnosis of BPD requires any five out of nine listed criteria to be present for a significant period of time. There are thus 256 different combinations of symptoms that could result in a diagnosis, of which 136 have been found in practice in one study.[15] The criteria are:[3]
1. Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment. [Not including suicidal or self-mutilating behavior covered in Criterion 5]
2. A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation.
3. Identity disturbance: markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self.
4. Impulsivity in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging (e.g., promiscuous sex, eating disorders, binge eating, substance abuse, reckless driving). [Again, not including suicidal or self-mutilating behavior covered in Criterion 5]
5. Recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, threats, or self-mutilating behavior such as cutting, interfering with the healing of scars, or picking at oneself.
6. Affective instability due to a marked reactivity of mood (e.g., intense episodic dysphoria, irritability, or anxiety usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a few days).
7. Chronic feelings of emptiness, worthlessness.
8. Inappropriate anger or difficulty controlling anger (e.g., frequent displays of temper, constant anger, recurrent physical fights).
9. Transient, stress-related paranoid ideation, delusions or severe dissociative symptoms
1 ~ This is when I become obsessed with someone.
2 ~ This is how i am with people i am trying to impress, either potential bfs or say a superior for whom i have to report to... in either case, it only begins after i start f*****g stuff up.
3 ~ How i feel towards myself WHEN i am f*****g something up.
4 ~ I have done this before... usually when i'm upset over things related to 2-3
5 ~ I have serious scars from picking at eczema... had a patch for over 2 yrs.
6 ~ people say im moody... sometimes emo issues
7 ~ Interpersonal-issue related
8 ~ I tend to get defensive rather easily... that's about it... im usually mellow but my interpersonal relationships at work are affected by this... say when i'm being critiqued.
i identify with these a lot but i also see how they relate for me to AS... sometimes i even think a little hint of borderline dependent personality in there as well... i don't like most people... but when i find ones i do like... i run into these sorts of issues sometimes and tie it in with an obsessive personality... and it all gets whirled together.
i have thought on these kinda of things before and have come to the conclusion that i developed these behaviors as a means of compensating for As related social issues... so maybe that was my "trauma" as it is suggested on wiki that childhood trauma is a possible source for this personality disorder.
20 Jul 2008, 7:13 pm
