In a word: yes. Planet earth, please lie on the couch.
Consider the symptoms as established by the DSM-IV, the bible of psychiatry. People with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) compensate for their emptiness by causing chaos in the lives of those around them. They are prone to rapid mood swings and outbursts of physical violence. They are anxious, irritable, and have trouble managing their emotions. Their anger is expressed inappropriately, and they often feel spacey and out of control. The Borderline Personality is characterized by binge eating, binge spending, suicidal feelings, substance abuse, and self-mutilation. Borderlines are sexually promiscuous and verbally abusive. They are also reluctant to admit mistakes and are willing to re-shuffle the old “reality deck” whenever it suits them. Because they must always be right, they constantly project their own feelings and faults onto others. In short, they are master controllers and manipulators.
From where I sit, Planet Earth needs to see a shrink ASAP and take a Prozac capsule the size of Manhattan Island. It is a violent place where few countries accept culpability for anything. There’s no consistent dialogue among nations of the earth, just name-calling and blame—massive projection of faults onto other populations as we wage our age-old real estate wars. To say that world’s anger and violence is out of control is an understatement. When it comes to rapid mood swings, regimes and the views of leaders morph like the proverbial shifting sands of time. As for self-mutilation and suicide, we’re doing a bang-up job of screwing up the environment. According to Gore et. al., if we don’t start reversing global warming within ten years, it’s lights out for Planet Earth by the latter part of the century. Most of the world’s population is addicted to sex, booze, drugs, technology, and food in order to fill its emptiness. And on any given day, reality is whatever “the man” says it is.
Unfortunately, BPD is rarely treated successfully since a majority of patients are in massive denial. Sure sounds like Planet Earth to me. The world is marching to the slaughterhouse, whistling all the way, but then we've always loved our diseases, haven't we? The United Nations was supposed to be the therapist in charge of controlling our insecurities and aggressive behaviors, but the third planet from the sun has been missing quite a few appointments lately. As they say in the south, “We in a heap of trouble.” Today’s Slick Fish Award goes to world leaders and grand high muckety-mucks everywhere who intensify our collective mental aberrations for the sake of their own welfare.
(On a personal note, if you live with someone with this disorder, or suspect that you do, get help. Living with a Borderline Personality can cause the nervous system to shift into overdrive, with stress ultimately causing serious health problems. The best place to scoop up info is BPD Central at www.bpdcentral.com/index.php.)
Consider the symptoms as established by the DSM-IV, the bible of psychiatry. People with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) compensate for their emptiness by causing chaos in the lives of those around them. They are prone to rapid mood swings and outbursts of physical violence. They are anxious, irritable, and have trouble managing their emotions. Their anger is expressed inappropriately, and they often feel spacey and out of control. The Borderline Personality is characterized by binge eating, binge spending, suicidal feelings, substance abuse, and self-mutilation. Borderlines are sexually promiscuous and verbally abusive. They are also reluctant to admit mistakes and are willing to re-shuffle the old “reality deck” whenever it suits them. Because they must always be right, they constantly project their own feelings and faults onto others. In short, they are master controllers and manipulators.
From where I sit, Planet Earth needs to see a shrink ASAP and take a Prozac capsule the size of Manhattan Island. It is a violent place where few countries accept culpability for anything. There’s no consistent dialogue among nations of the earth, just name-calling and blame—massive projection of faults onto other populations as we wage our age-old real estate wars. To say that world’s anger and violence is out of control is an understatement. When it comes to rapid mood swings, regimes and the views of leaders morph like the proverbial shifting sands of time. As for self-mutilation and suicide, we’re doing a bang-up job of screwing up the environment. According to Gore et. al., if we don’t start reversing global warming within ten years, it’s lights out for Planet Earth by the latter part of the century. Most of the world’s population is addicted to sex, booze, drugs, technology, and food in order to fill its emptiness. And on any given day, reality is whatever “the man” says it is.
Unfortunately, BPD is rarely treated successfully since a majority of patients are in massive denial. Sure sounds like Planet Earth to me. The world is marching to the slaughterhouse, whistling all the way, but then we've always loved our diseases, haven't we? The United Nations was supposed to be the therapist in charge of controlling our insecurities and aggressive behaviors, but the third planet from the sun has been missing quite a few appointments lately. As they say in the south, “We in a heap of trouble.” Today’s Slick Fish Award goes to world leaders and grand high muckety-mucks everywhere who intensify our collective mental aberrations for the sake of their own welfare.
(On a personal note, if you live with someone with this disorder, or suspect that you do, get help. Living with a Borderline Personality can cause the nervous system to shift into overdrive, with stress ultimately causing serious health problems. The best place to scoop up info is BPD Central at www.bpdcentral.com/index.php.)
(Picture: Public Domain)
3 comments:
Stop feeding into the misconception that being manipulative is a symptom of BPD. There are plenty of manipulative people who don't have the disorder, inversely, there are plenty of individuals with BPD who are not manipulative. Not all borderlines are the same. Sometimes the underlying motivation for the so called "manipulative" behavior displayed by those with BPD is simply misconstrued by insensitive and/or emotionally vacant people, or by the misinformed. People with BPD are actually more likely to be manipulated by others than to be manipulative due to their serious hypersensitivity, volatility, and compromised coping skills. There are plenty of sociopaths out there who deliberately provoke and induce rage in those with BPD and chalk the explosive consequences up to their victim's borderline diagnosis. Don't assume that every borderline wishes to cause chaos in the lives of others. Any borderline, manipulative or not, wants nothing more than to feel safe and secure interpersonally, to be loved, to make friends who are truly loyal and trustworthy, and most of all, to find like-minded people to whom they can relate. The erratic behavior of those with BPD occurs as a result of their inevitable feelings of hopelessness and desperation brought on by pervasive anxiety, a persistent fear of being isolated and/or abandoned, hellish feelings of alienation, unrelenting frustration on a daily basis, and severe depression. Their rage is involuntary-- it is not purposeful or orchestrated with malignant intent.
Borderlines are responsible for their behavior like anyone else. You need to read Stop Walking On Egg Shells by Randi Kreeger, who runs an online support group for those trying to reclaim their lives after the severe physical, mental, and emotional abuse inflicted by Borderlines. You are obviously not very well versed in Borderline behavior or its ramifications for those living with BPs. Borderlines most definitely exhibit a desperate need for control and manipulation, and they do indeed cause chaos in the lives of those closest to them because they lack ego structure and seek to fill their emptiness by creating unhealthy forms of attention. The Borderline has an obligation to deal therapeutically with hypersensitivity, volatility, hoplessness, fear of abandonment, desperation, and poor coping skills. Don't expect the rest of us to deal with such dysfunctional behavior and become doormats. All therapists well versed in the disorder tell non-BPs that it is paramount to set parameters and strict limits for what will and will not be tolerated from the Borderline in order to safeguard the mental health of spouses and family members. Accepting rage, scapegoating, rapid mood swings, violence, threats, an inherent denial of reality, self-mutilation, binge-drinking, promiscuity (or various combinations of these behaviors in a BP) forces a non-BP into co-dependency. Borderlines who choose not to take responsibility for their behavior or seek treatment are professional victims, and it is documented by physicians nationwide that the damage inflicted by their pathology causes physical and psychological disease (including PTSD or chronic illness)in the people they abuse. Unfortunately, Borderlines have less than a 15% success rate of treatment because they lack the ego strength and resolve to accept the fact that they are sick. A majority of Borderlines turn on their therapists and even resort to stalking or threats. As you did in your response, it's too easy to blame others instead of realizing that no one can change Borderline charactistics except the Borderline herself. Don't expect others to blithely shrug their shoulders and accept abusive behavior and a domain of symptoms that is virtually impossible to live with unless the Borderline is committed to change.
This post is not about sociopaths or other people who may exhibit normal human emotions or failings. The post is a metaphor that uses BPD symptoms, and the fact that you have misread it shows a high degree of paranoia and defensiveness. I am not "feeding" any misconceptions, but your first sentence infers quite correctly that such opinions are indeed shared by many others. The symptoms related here are medical fact. If you have an ax to grind with the way Borderlines are viewed or treated, please take it up with professional, medical staff, not this blog. Further comments will be deleted.
Borderlines are not going to feel safe and secure in their relationships until they wish to offer the same to those in their lives, which means a long term commitment to cognitive therapy, medication for the imbalance of neurtransmitters, and Dialectal Behavior Therapy.
Finally, Borderlines seldom, if ever, pair with sociopaths, who clinicaly show a refusal to allow the incessant control and manipulation from the Borderline, so your assumption about such interactions is inaccurate. The Borderline usually, though not always, seeks people who are giving and highly vulnerable
I suggest you read PEOPLE OF THE LIE by M. Scott Peck, THE BORDERLINE MOTHER by Christine Lawson, and articles by Marcia Linehan, among others. And, of coyrse, STOP WALKIJG ON EGG SHELLS.
It is obvious you are angry and hurting. I pray that you might find help and peace of mind.
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