Borderline is a personality disorder. Ingrained from early on, shaped by early life experiences. Medication can not "fix it." Medication can help with the symptoms.
People with BPD react to others and their mood changes according to how they view people at the instance. Moods can shift in a second.

For example:

• If their therapist doesn't return their phone call, most BPD freak out, usually act-out in rage or self-harm. They don't think about all the other wonderful things their therapists have done. In the instant, they feel abandon and lash out.

Mood is dictated by someone else's behavior that the BPD person perceived as hurtful.

• If their boyfriend is late, they feel abandoned and yell and scream at their boyfriend or blame themselves degrading themselves and thus hurt themselves somehow.

• Therapists or anyone in a BPD persons world can go from being on a pedestal and the best thing in the world.... to being devalued and hated within minutes.

**Their moods are triggered by perceived hurts!

Ever hear "walking on eggshells"... that is what it is like to be close to someone with BPD. Do one thing wrong and watch out. Goto the Psychotherapy board and read the BPD people who post about their therapists and you will see the behaviors. They tend to treat people like ****, unless they get help. BPD disorder patients tend to be very self-centered, want to be special, break boundaries, devalue people, etc.
Moods tend to be short-lasting. For example, boyfriend apologizes and brings back flowers, mood is better. Therapist calls the next day, apologizes for not returning the call and the Borderline's life is better.


Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder. Our mood episodes *could be* triggered by an event, but in most cases, it is our brain chemistry that causes a mood episode.

We don't react with crazy mood swings to perceived hurts from people.
Unless you are rapid-cycling, our moods tend to be longer lasting. Depression lasts for weeks or months, not a day or an hour. Mania lasts for weeks.

Last summer I had a manic episode. Within a week of the mania ending, I fell into a depressed episode that lasted 3 months. Nothing happened, but brain chemistry.

If my therapist doesn't call me back, I don't act-out and rage and have a mood episode. I think about and integrate all the other great things my therapist has done and realize she is busy. It doesn't change my view of her and I don't feel abandoned, where I HATE her and act out in anger and then fall into deep despair. Mood is not driven by our interaction and perception of others.

There was some discussion a couple years ago about whether people were being diagnosed BP 2 to avoid the stigma of BPD. But the reality is, the behaviors of a BPD patient are hallmark.