Hi again and welcome back to the savvy psychologist. I'm your host Dr. Ellen

Hendrickson and every week I'll help you meet life's challenges with evidence-based research, a sympathetic ear, and zero judgment.

Besides Glen Close, the original Bunny Boiler in Fatal Attraction, other Hollywood portrayals of borderline personality disorder, or BPD, have included, among others, Kristen Whig in Welcome to Me, and Evan Rachel Wood in 13. But each portrayal is only one view and with five of

nine symptoms required for diagnosis there are dozens of ways to have BPD. Plus put a Hollywood filter on

any psychological disorder and you'll almost always end up with the

Fun House mirror version. So, Hollywood aside, what exactly is, quote, borderline about BPD?

Besides, perhaps, our understanding and portrayals?

This week will clear the air with nine signs of borderline personality disorder.

Now, BPD was originally thought to be quote on the border of a psychotic disorder like schizophrenia and a mood disorder like

depression and while VPD is now an established disorder in its own right the

name has stuck for the millions of Americans it affects.

So if it's not psychosis and it's not depression, what is it?

Any personality disorder, by definition, is a lens through which you see the world. It's an

ingrained way of thinking and feeling about yourself, about other people, and it

affects all domains of life. work, school, friends, relationships, and the

hallmark for BPD is instability. Instability in relationships, identity, and emotion.

In other words, its stability lies in its instability.

So what exactly does that look like?

Well, look for these nine signs. Sign number one is

Fear of Abandonment. Imagine being afraid you'll be dropped by your partner or

friends at any moment.

It feels so real and because the idea of being rejected and left is so terrifying,

...