Do Borderlines Have Strong Imaginations?

Hi

I am at the lower end of BPD (i have about five of the traits). I know I have a very strong imagination, in the sense that I can think of something and conjure very strong emotions, whether it be fear or love or sensuality etc.

I'll give a humorous example of this. Thanks to 'jaws' i hate sharks. When i was younger i used to have recurring nightmares about them chasing after me. Now, dreams are one thing. But there were times when i would be swimming in a pool in real life, and i would imagine a shark finding it's way into the pool. I would be struck with enough fear that I would actually swim out of the pool as if my life depended on it. (i could even conjure this fear whilst lying in a bath tub!!!)

I know, this sounds like borderline psychosis. But it's always fleeting and I know rationally that there is no shark in the pool. It's just my fear response is so acute that I can imagine a threat into existence and actively respond to it.

I know I can convince myself of pretty much anything in the moment. I can momentarily convince myself I love someone and tell them so when I know it's what they want to hear, when I know I actually love someone else, simply because I can tune so quickly into an emotion that I am born to feel, ie. overwhelming love.

Anyone here with BPD share a similar strong imagination? An ability to momentarily convince themselves of anything, emotion or otherwise? I figure I'd make a very good method actress, being able to fully inhabit an emotion as I do so naturally.

Everyone one is different, but I can certainly relate with what you're saying. I think it has to do with the fact that most Borderlines have really high sensitivity.
I can conjure up the most bizarre scenarios in my head involving what could or would happen with people I know if x,y, or z occurred. And this imaginary movie playing in my brain gets bigger and bigger and more intense until I am, for a while, convinced it's happened or is going to happen. Usually this ends in tears, which sucks because it'd be nice if I could use that power to conjure up happy things

I have a vast imagination. I can picture various scenarios easily (not all are pleasant)

lol. it's not just me then.

no, i agree with that too. i avoided feeling emotions in real situations for a long time, but would play them out in my head just like you described, or through watching a film or writing something. i think i use music more to express my real emotions tho. for me some of it was like a safe way to feel stuff without actually feeling my own emotions.

I don't know if that is just a Borderline thing. I have a mood disorder, but I experience the same thing you describe. It's funny you mention the Jaws example. When I was younger I recall seeing a movie about a giant alligator that ate people. For months afterward I would get freaked out about swimming in lakes and ponds even though I know for a fact there are no alligators where I live. I also have the ability to become very emotional just from picturing scenarios in my head. My guess is that an overactive imagination is a component of various mental disorders.

I know what you mean Cat Eyes. Sometimes it's so intense. Like I can cry at will--not sad tears, tears of rapture--just by imagining myself, for example, as like an incredibly powerful goddess being raised by a column of white light toward a thundering black sky amidst the grand canyon on a hot summer night. In this state I watch myself - watch my eyes roll to the back of my head and a devilish grin develop across my face. And with that I cue the violins, the grand piano, and the low rumbling bass which invariably gives me goosebumps and sends jolts of ecstasy throughout my extremities, culminating in a wonderful, joyous display of tears as I am momentarily transported fully into my imagination..

Cat Eyes wrote:I don't know if that is just a Borderline thing. I have a mood disorder, but I experience the same thing you describe. It's funny you mention the Jaws example. When I was younger I recall seeing a movie about a giant alligator that ate people. For months afterward I would get freaked out about swimming in lakes and ponds even though I know for a fact there are no alligators where I live. I also have the ability to become very emotional just from picturing scenarios in my head. My guess is that an overactive imagination is a component of various mental disorders.

do you mind me asking what kind of mood disorder you have?

I have and still do it so much I could put any writer to shame lol

Have and still do what BF?