Examining Borderline Personality Disorder, a Mental Disorder

Borderline personality disorder, also known as BPD and emotional dysregulation disorder, is defined as a mental disorder characterized by unstable moods, behavior, and relationships that can last anywhere from several years to a lifetime. Emotional dysregulation disorder most commonly effects people ages fourteen to sixty and requires a medical diagnosis because the symptoms can come from one or several other disorders and can be easily mistaken for another illness. Likewise, it is prudent to get a clinical diagnosis because when self-diagnosing. One may decide they have a bipolar disorder, anxiety and/or depression when in reality, they have BPD. Emotional dysregulation disorder can cause behavioral, psychological, and emotional difficulties and often creates thoughts of suicide.

Similar to any other mental disorder, BPD effects the mind in ways that drastically change a person’s outlook on life. This specific disorder can cause depression, narcissism, grandiosity, and a distorted self-image. One of the biggest concerns is that the condition often does not cause just one of these symptoms, but multiple or even all of them at once. This can be very conflicting and often causes a few distressing emotions.

Borderline personality disorder also forces feelings of anxiety, anger, guilt, sadness, and loneliness on its victim one at a time, or occasionally all at once. Though the sufferer knows that he or she is falling victim to his or her illness, the cannot help but feel their emotions. Mental illness lies entirely inside the mind, hence the “mental” aspect. The mind has control of everything a person sees and how he or she perceives it. A person may tell the sufferer, “Your hair looks so nice! I prefer it with a bit more volume, though,” and the subject is likely to focus on the fact that the person likes their strands with more volume, instead of their hair looking nice. This can cause the victim to respond in confusing ways.

The sufferer will say he or she feels one way and then ten minutes later, say he or she feels something completely contradictory. Because of these mood swings, the sufferer can be very difficult to be around or to cultivate a relationship with. This can bring about some nasty behavioral concerns.

Emotional dysregulation disorder brings out risky, antisocial, self-destructive, and compulsive behavior. The illness can give its victim an irritable, impulsive, and hostile attitude and often leads to a lack of restraint and social isolation.