Borderline Personality Disorder Criteria

1.     Unstable and intense interpersonal relationships.

2.     Impulsiveness in at two areas that are potentially self destructive: i.e. chemical abuse, promiscuity, gambling, shop lifting, excessive spending, over eating, anorexia nervosa or bulimia.

3.     Recurrent suicidal threats, gestures, behavior, or self mutilation.

4.     Marked identity disturbance manifested in at least two of the following: Self image, sexual orientation, long term goals, career choice, types of friends desired, preferred values.

5.     Chronic feelings of emptiness and/or boredom.

6.     Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment.

Job Problems for the Borderline

          

          I have had so many jobs.  I am good at making positive first impressions so it is relatively easy for me to obtain a job.  I have never been fired but I have a problem with quitting.  My anxiety overwhelms me when I’m working to the point where I dissociate and sometimes don’t know where I am or what instructions my boss has given me.  I am an intelligent and artistic person that is fueled by powerful emotions so I enjoy jobs that tap into my creativity.  Hard labor and a high pressure environment do not mix well with me.  Jobs where I am face to face with less than satisfied customers or critical bosses are also a detriment to me.

Most people with Borderline disorder don’t do well in competitive careers because we are hypersensitive to rejection and failure.  I used to think that if I failed at a task I failed as a human being.  This kind of thinking destroyed my occupational experiences.  I think in my jobs I have always needed affirmation for good work and not many superiors take the time to encourage their employees.  I am looking forward to the day when my anxiety is in control enough to allow me to flourish in whatever occupation I choose to pursue.

Borderlines You Know

          

Many psychiatrists believe that some of Freud's most interesting cases of 'neurosis' at the turn of the century would be diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder today.  Who are some well known people and characters who suffer/suffered from BPD?  Please note that just because some of these people are known for being 'evil', that doesn't mean Borderlines are.  This list is purely made from a neutral point of view.  Do you know any celebrities or characters that have BPD that are not on my list?  Let me know!

SLXL

Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jeane Mortenson) 

​​SLXLZelda Fitzgerald

Thomas Wolfe 

T. E. Lawrence

Adolf Hitler

Muammar Gaddafi

Lindsay Lohan

Britney Spears

Marsha in 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'

Travis Bickle in "Taxi Driver"

Lee Holloway in "Secretary"

Theresa (Terry) Dunn in "Looking for Mr. Goodbar"

Scarlett O' Hara in 'Gone With the Wind'

Sally Bowles in "Cabaret"

Howard Beale in 'Network'

Carmen in Georges Bizet's opera 'Carmen'

Blanche Dubois in 'A Streetcar named Desire'

King Henry Tudor VIII