Sorry for posting another thread here but I just had a thought and I thought it would be helpful. So I accidentally came across a website talking about narcissists and how to recognize them and how they abuse people and how their psyches work and stuff...
And I saw myself in every single article. I was terrified. I've been struggling with this for a long time, that question: "am I a narcissist? Am I a narcissist? Am I a monster?"

Well, I mean, I am a monster. But not a narcissist. After a lot of thought, I realized something very important. It's the title of this thread.

Borderline and Narcissistic symptoms often overlap. Narcissists are terrified of rejection. So are Borderline people. Narcissists are extremely sensitive to criticism. So are Borderline people. Narcissists often fly into a rage when they believe they are being threatened. They are hypervigilant for any sign of criticism or abandonment. So are borderline people.

The way I decided that I am not a narcissist is that I am driven to self-reflection. I like to think about my own thoughts and analyze them. I acknowledge my negative behavior as negative... even if I can't/don't do anything about it. Apparently narcissists don't do this. They refuse to accept that there is something wrong with them and they don't self-reflect.

It just struck me how much those articles I read could so easily be edited just a tiny bit to describe Borderline Personality Disorder exactly. And what infuriates me is that Borderline isn't even mentioned. So anyone that has BPD could come across those articles and panic. They could think "I'm a monster that can't be fixed and people should avoid me, I will never be able to get the love and intimacy that I need so badly" like I did.

TL;DR: Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder are different but have a lot of overlapping symptoms, and the latter is often confused for the former and its sufferers are needlessly demonized.