[h3]DSM-IV-TR criteria[/h3]
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."[sup]
[17][/sup] 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. The criteria are:[sup]
[3][/sup]
- Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment. [Not including suicidal or self-injuring behavior covered in Criterion 5]
- A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation.
- Identity disturbance: markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self.
- 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-injuring behavior covered in Criterion 5]
- Recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, threats or self-injuring behavior such as cutting, interfering with the healing of scars (excoriation) or picking at oneself.
- 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).
- Chronic feelings of emptiness
- Inappropriate anger or difficulty controlling anger (e.g., frequent displays of temper, constant anger, recurrent physical fights).
- Transient, stress-related paranoid ideation, delusions or severe dissociative symptoms
I'm not a psychiatrist by any means, but the story just seems very, very similar to something that I've witness firsthand from someone with BPD.