Personalities of BPD people

Hey Alive,

I'll just share what people have described me as: really tough on the outside but warm on the inside, doesn't take s**t from anyone, scary but sweet,funny and easy to talk to....intelligent but with street smarts over book smarts. I think thats a basic and fair description of my personality.

It seems two ladies with bpd can have pretty different personalities. nice thread, hopefully more will add to it.

Though I'm not familiar with what classifies a personality disorder, I think the "personality" aspect of bpd at least will be erased from practice in the future of psychology. The only problems with bpd people are how our moods negatively effect our lives, unlike psychopathy or personality disorders which cause a person to be generally oblivious about the needs of others or somehow cause selfish interests to even cause them to cause themselves harm (*like a CEO of a big company who cause the city water to be poisoned to save or make money for himself and then wonders why he got sick from drinking out of the tap, never to connect the dots before or after.)

I'm a math tutor who's been studying physics and neuroscience in college. People describe me as smart, sweet, even funny. They can't understand why I feel down or why I seem desperate, nor can they put a finger on what causes them to shy away from me.

youngidealist wrote:Though I'm not familiar with what classifies a personality disorder, I think the "personality" aspect of bpd at least will be erased from practice in the future of psychology. The only problems with bpd people are how our moods negatively effect our lives, unlike psychopathy or personality disorders which cause a person to be generally oblivious about the needs of others or somehow cause selfish interests to even cause them to cause themselves harm

I understand that you stated that you are not familiar with what classifies a personality disorder. I would argue however that with BPD there is much more going on besides just our moods. Perhaps if I boil things down immensely, I may be able to see slightly where you're coming from with this.

I had a point by point example written out, but I decided it wasn't appropriate. I just wanted to say that I disagree with this statement.

I also have bpd some times I feel I have a split personality one day I am mean and other days nice. I am a bit naive and too apologetic at times. I am both street smart and book smart. I am told I am to forgiving and too understanding. Overall I think I am a kind person sometimes a little to kind

I am naive too and trust almost anyone. I am very sensitive, sometimes cant watch the news because of the sad stories and when I see blood I fell unconscious. I like to help people, solve their problems and being kind and sweet. But lately I tend to switch on my rational sense. I was thinking for the 1 year plus, I have NPD, but now I am in a doubt about that. Yeah and I f... love science and animals

Cheze2 wrote:I understand that you stated that you are not familiar with what classifies a personality disorder. I would argue however that with BPD there is much more going on besides just our moods. Perhaps if I boil things down immensely, I may be able to see slightly where you're coming from with this.

I had a point by point example written out, but I decided it wasn't appropriate. I just wanted to say that I disagree with this statement.

That's completely valid to disagree with me since I'm not a professional. Abnormal Psych is also the one topic that I've avoided taking out of my curiosity in psych ironically enough. Just to be a little clearer, I might have overgeneralized by suggesting that moods are the only problem for us, as I'm still learning and perhaps for all I know, the empty feeling and issues like it are not considered moods technically.

My primary point was more that the word 'personality' doesn't seem like an appropriate word to use in describing disorders at all, especially bpd. In the future I suspect that as more fine tuned differences are discovered even among those of us with bpd, new diagnosis will be derived and that word will be removed from practice at the same time.

I have been told that I am a very kind and generous person. And that I am smart.

I tend to be a bit paranoid, most of the time, though.

To quote a friend:

"You know how (name removed) had done so much Cocaine that he stripped away some of his natural protective emotional layers? You're about halfway there. You have a few of your natural defenses, but have lost most of them. You present yourself in a very raw, direct way. Your feelings are direct, less-filtered, less gussied-up than most people. And while most people are capable of lying to themselves, you're just not... as far as I know. And it can lead to interpersonal conflict. But only interpersonal with complete tossers, so that's OK.

You're a hippie that has swears she can't take hippies. You're an intellectual that feels. You care deeply about what other people think of you, even though you try not to.

Like a raw nerve ending, you have a strong sense of physical and emotional sensation. You experience the world more directly than most people. This makes you a very sensual person. But more than that, it brings you into the moment. Unfortunately, this diverts from the future planning and sacrifice part of your personality, which I can hear struggling to come to the front. That part of your personality is in direct conflict with the part that is still a research professor at a world-class university.

You're very hard on yourself. You set your standards very high, and life hasn't turned out quite that way. There is a sadness in you. I imagine that when you're wandering back from the stores in the middle of the night, you're probably a little down. You have faith in people, and people let you down. You had faith in life, and life let you down.

But you still have hope."