There are suggestions that those with borderline personality disorder are more likely to be verbally, emotionally/psychologically and physically abusive. Is this the truth with people with BPD?
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There are suggestions that those with borderline personality disorder are more likely to be verbally, emotionally/psychologically and physically abusive. Is this the truth with people with BPD?
Growing up, my mother had BPD. It was really so bad that she’d beat up my brother so badly that he got scarred— for life. She abused him so badly he had a psychotic break and suffers from schizoaffective disorder. She’d also beat me so badly I could hardly walk and suffered from serious deep tissue injuries. I ended up suffering from severe clinical depression my whole life. Her worst was reserved for my father: she threw boiling water on him, cut him seriously with a butcher knife, and finally, to top it all off, blinded him in one eye. Numerous times our neighbors called the police, in tears, fearing this woman was killing someone. This was only the physical abuse, and does not touch on the mental, emotional, and financial abuse she perpetrated on our family. What’s even worse, she’d always blame us, the victims and showed absolutely no remorse.
BPD people can be extremely abusive and cause lasting damage to the people around them.
BPDs can be extremely charming and charismatic, especially to the public, only showing their illness in private. They are street angels, house devils. This causes even more damage to their family, as the family victims can have a hard time getting others to believe what is happening at home.
It really depends on the person. But speaking of being abusive or dangerous, people with BPD are far more dangerous towards themselves than to others. Unless the borderline has some other underlying issues such as antisocial personality disorder or mania, they are generally not harmful to others. There are some cases of borderlines driving recklessly or under the influence because they don’t care whether they live or not which does put others at risk, but most do not do this. Some can lash out at others by throwing chairs or whatever, but they are more likely to take their anger out on themselves and not others. There might be a slightly elevated risk of borderlines being violent as it can often cause intense anger, irrationality, and impulsive behavior. However, as a general rule, it’s best to put some trust in others until they give you a reason not to. A person being a borderline doesn’t merit a reason to not trust them, as the vast majority are harmless to you.