Personality Quizzes

I know that there are people who do not love their fellow man, and I hate people like that! -- Tom Lehrer

Borderline can be one of the most difficult personality disorders for the individuals, their family, friends and therapist. Some therapists are reluctant to see individuals diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPDr, because treating them can be challenging and time consuming. It has been said that the motto of these individuals is:" I hate you, don’t leave me!" Generalizing about human beings is fraught with peril - we are all so very unique. An individual’s symptoms and severity of symptoms will vary greatly from person to person. Though BPD has a discouraging reputation, one of my favorite patients had this disorder. Sessions were an uphill battle and I was discouraged at times (as I am sure she was), yet we remained committed to treatment and she eventually reached her treatment goals. I still hear from her on a regular basis. BPD is diagnosed more often in women (75%), than in men. It is possible that the symptom cluster is simply not recognized as readily in men.

I have treated many women with Borderline Personality Disorder, and the work can be demanding. I would suggest that a mental health professional who treats patients diagnosed with BPD carry a lighter caseload to allow sufficient time for each client, especially in the beginning.

This disorder will appear in about 2% of the general population. Fortunately, disorder symptoms appear to improve as the patient ages.

• March 23, 2011, 12:18 pm - Tina This sounds just like my brother. Supposedly, from what he said, he was actually diagnosed with DPD(Dependent). But, from what I've been learning, as a medical transcriptionist at a psychiatric outpatient facility, he definitely has BPD. For all I know, he could have just said that because he has some tendency thinking he could get away with that being his issue rather then accepting the truth of the actual worse-case-senerio. At first, I thought maybe it was Bipolar Depression. He does get mad when someone tells him something he doesn't like to here, but then he just shuts down and you don't here from him for weeks (he is not violant, just very vocal). Then, out of the blue he calls as if nothing ever happened. My mother doesn't fall for that crap, though. She, on the other hand, has obsssessive traits, so her forget what he did, that would be out of the question! LOL. He goes through the "stormy attachment" phase and I can't even count the number of times he has done this to my mother. Also, he has Impulsive/Compulsive behaviors such as his moderate spending sprees, the eye that shifts from girl to girl, even when he is married or in an exclusive relationship...and more. He's cheated on his first ex-wife when they were dating and when they were married and had a child. And, then, get this, he got married a second time to a woman he barely knew all because he didn't want to be alone in Japan, where he was stationed through the Navy. She said that he had a laundry list of girls he was trying to convince to fly out there and she was the only "dumb a**" that went. He is moderatley unstable mood-wise and relationship-wise. His finances are unstable. He has so much debt from his credit cards that it is unreal. He just buys and does not think of the consequences until he gets the bill and calls "Mommy." And, the amount of times he has lied to people, that list can go on forever...he is a compulsive lier. And, his reasoning is his excessive, inappapropriate fear of rejection and the inability to handle criticizm. So, there you have it, a complete description, in full detail, of a person with Borderline Personality Disorder. He does have some mild dependent traits too though such as the inability to take responsibility for things like his cat, that I am taking care of, and his 4-year-old daughter, in some ways. Her mother has full custody of her, and thank god for that because he also is impulsive when it comes to text messaging girls and being on the darn internet web-browsing who knows what, and, quite frankly, I don't want to know. He use to be such a religious person, being raised Catholic, up until he hit college. Then, things were constantly up and down with that. He was in and out of church...at one point, he was leaning towards Buddhism, and now, supposedly, he is Presbyterian. Whether he actually goes to church, who knows anymore...but, he is all over the place in his thining and his actions. He is spinning out of control, but his thoughts are not racing. He can't sit still for too long, but he isn't destructive physically (as in being abusive) and doesn't have intermittent explosive disorder either. He can control his anger. But, his way of controlling it is by walking away and acting distant. And, his way of controlling his emotions is by cheating on his first wife and convincing someone else to fly to Japan without even knowing much about her (she was found out to be a raging alcoholic and seems to have some borderline tendencies too). Now, he is going from one girl to the next. I can't keep track. But, I think once they figure him out, the normal one's, they flee real fast and then he just goes and searches for another in hopes that she will stick around, regardless of where she lives. I would'nt say he is "crazy", but he is instability is causing him to lose a lot of good things in his life.
• April 14, 2011, 2:11 am - Susie Why is self mutilation considered a sucidial expression? I have been doing superficial cutting and burning for several years-but have never attempted sucide. I rarely come across people who have the same behaviors where the injuries they inflict could possibly cause death-most of us tend to be cautious so as to keep the behavior secret- trips to the emergency room for stitches blows the top off that! Never understand the idea that this makes me a person who has a death wish...so why do drs. keep saying this behavior makes me a suicide risk?