Trigger warning: this article discusses borderline personality disorder as a mental disorder, in addition to self-harm. This article is solely for educational purposes. If you or someone you know feel like you are struggling with borderline personality disorder, please seek professional help for an evaluation.
Borderline personality disorder is considered one of the most complex disorders known to psychologists today. From constant misdiagnoses to therapists turning down patients, BPD is highly stigmatized as well as misunderstood in society and the mental health community alike. Misdiagnosis is so common with BPD patients because the symptoms are so complex. Sometimes when conducting an evaluation, the individual may not be able to fully express their feelings, triggers, and interfering behaviors. On the other hand, a lot of therapists tend to stay away from diagnosing their patients with BPD because many therapists share the general stigma that surrounds patients with BPD – that they are very hard to treat.
It is important to understand that to be properly diagnosed with BPD, the individual must qualify for at least five of the nine symptoms that it comes with. Prior to this, the symptoms themselves also must be understood – one of which being unclear or shifting self-Image.
What Does Having an Unclear or Shifting Self-Image Entail?
According to Very Well Health, “when someone has BPD, their sense of self is typically unstable. Sometimes they feel good about themselves, but at other times they hate themselves or even view themselves as evil. They tend to not have clarity of who they are or what they want in life.” The individual may experience sudden and dramatic shifts in self-image, characterized by shifting goals, values, and vocational aspirations. There may be sudden changes in opinions and plans about career, sexual identity, values, and types of friends.
Why Do People with BPD Experience this?
People with BPD have an unclear or shifting self-image for many reasons, but one the major ones is that it has developed over time as a coping mechanism through self-splitting. Splitting – also called black-and-white thinking or all-or-nothing thinking – is the failure in thinking to bring together the dichotomy of both positive and negative qualities of the self and others into a cohesive, realistic whole.
Other factors that may contribute to this symptom include overreliance on the evaluations, love, and approval of others; an impoverished self-concept; and excessive dependency needs have been implicated for why immediate feelings of self-worth of some individuals are highly unstable.
If you or someone you know thinks they have BPD, it is important to seek professional diagnoses and further help accordingly.