Article

Biological factors in Borderline Personality Disorder(BPD) consist of inborn temperemental abnormalities. Impulsivity and emotional instability are unusually intense in these patients. These traits are known to be heritable.

Research shows that the impulsivity that characterizes borderline personality might be associated with decreased serotonin activity in the brain.

BPD patients often need to feel suicidal in order to know they can escape from their dysphoric feelings. Some patients report a fairly normal childhood but most likely, any scenario is possible. They are highly unstable emotionally and develop wide mood swings in response to stressful events.
Most often, borderline patients present to psychiatrists with repetitive suicidal attempts. We often see these patients in the emergency room, coming in with an OD/slashed wrist/ following a disappointment or a quarrel.
Interpersonal relationships are particularly unstable in BPD patients. Typically borderline patients have serious problems with boundaries. They become quickly involved with people and quickly disappointed in them. They make great demands on other people and easily become frightened of being abandoned by them. Their emotional life is something like that of a rollercoaster.
Relationships with others are intense but stormy and unstable with marked shift of feelings and difficulties in maintaning intimate, close connections. The person may manipulate others and has difficulty in trusting others. There are frequent shifts to an empty lonely depression or to irritability and anxiety. There may be unpredictable, impulsive behaviour which might include excessive spending, promiscuity, gambling, drug or alcohol abuse, shoplifting, overeating or physically self-damaging actions like suicide gestures.

The person may show inappropriate and intense anger or rage with temper tantrums, constant brooding and resentment, feelings of deprivation, and a loss of control or a fear of loss of control over angry feelings. There are identity disturbances with confusion and uncertainty about self-identity, sexuality, life goals and values, career choices and friendships.

There is a deep-seated feeling that one is flawed, defective, damaged or bad in some way with a tendency to go to extremes in thinking, feeling and behaviour. Under extreme stress or in some severe cases, there can be brief psychotic episodes with loss of contact with reality or bizarre behaviour or symptoms. Even in less severe instances, there is often significant disruption of relationships and work performance. The depression accompanying this disease can cause much suffering and can lead to serious suicide attempts.