HPD vs BPD

Greetings all! I was involved with a woman for a year and a half that I later had suspicions of being a borderline. I had never heard of these types of disorders before, and I actually stumbled upon this whole Cluster b thing while trying to figure out what was wrong with me. A year later, it still bothers me, so I resumed my research - only to stumble onto this forum and Histrionic Personality disorder! I have to admit that perhaps my initial "diagnosis" was incorrect and HPD is actually what the poor lass (heh) suffers from...
So can someone illustrate the differences for me? At some point I'll tell my whole story, but it is quite long and complex....








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In a nutshell, HPD is all about seeking for attention from anyone, whether approved or unapproved by his/her loved ones, and whether it's positive attention or negative attention.

BPD is more about irrational moods and spontaneous reactions that their loved ones dread, and threats of self-harm and suicide as a way to manipulate.

Is there some overlap between both conditions? Can they coexist? From what I understand, that is rare... Or perhaps an HPD with borderline leanings? I understand there are several subsets of HPD.

They may overlap in many cases. It is not as common for an HPD to have only HPD as a personality disorder as many people think.

There's usually an overlap with BPD and/or NPD as well.

i have BPD and not HPD. when i act out it's usually about trying to change my internal emotional state, rather than trying to influence how others see me. plus i don't tend to be seductive or provocative, at least not directly. it seems to me like people with HPD are more extroverted and don't get as concerned with what's going on inside them.

Of course things like HPD and BPD can coexist.

ihauntyourhouses wrote:i have BPD and not HPD. when i act out it's usually about trying to change my internal emotional state, rather than trying to influence how others see me. plus i don't tend to be seductive or provocative, at least not directly. it seems to me like people with HPD are more extroverted and don't get as concerned with what's going on inside them.

I would suggest NPD is more about trying to influence how others see you (creating maintaining self-image)

Whereas HPD is all about the attention. From what I gather it is about trying to influence internal state even if the pwHPD isn't directly focussed on it.

I'd say the difference would be that for a pw BPD the focus is on getting reassurance or reciprocation of something in particular, (e.g. assurance of love, non-abandonment etc, which attention in itself will not provide alone,) whereas the pw HPD could find their state regulated by the attention itself. (not just by providing distraction, meaning the attention from others is their direct need.)

I share Katana's view of how they differ/compare.

From a different point of view, the difference in coping mechanisms only matter so much.

I think I am one of a couple HPD/BPD hybrids. It's called comorbidity :0).



AMP

Eh, no one likes to fit in a box. Consider yourself an individual

I have wondered if HPD is in many ways a more specialized version of BPD, in that HPDs are more organized and dissociate less than BPDs.

One reason for this might be due to their greater sexual capital, and thus the ability to generate more self esteem through being seductive, characteristics and behaviors not so available to BPDs. I have read and seen that many HPDs are physically attractive, according the images of their culture. One author even goes so far as to to describe the HPD somatic archetype as that of a stripper, or exotic dancer.

Their own self awareness that they are attractive also explains the narcissistic dimensions that dont seem to be as typical in BPD.
According to Millon the HPD subtype with the most BPD crossover is Infantile, although HPD Tempestuous also is reminiscent of BPD.
Like BPDs, HPDs are 'other' oriented; the HPD need for attention seems to be a more refined version of the BPDs need for attachment, in order to avoid abandonment.

I have encountered BPD and HPD people in the workplace and the BPDs were more emotionally volatilel, less productive, and less accepted by the Non co-workers.
On the other hand, BPD is more likely to be legally accepted as a disability, probably since BPD is the most understood PD (along with AsPD).