Bpd vs. Aspd

The two diagnoses overlap and can make a strange hybrid of a human.

If you feel you cannot connect with most of the world and avoid family at all costs where does this place you?

Hi, Maggie. I can't presume to comment on anything to do with aspd, but I do know what it's like to have two disorders pulling in opposite directions. I meet most of the criteria for avoidant personality along with BPD. I've read that this combination is impossible, but whoever handed out my brainware apparently didn't know that. Please keep sharing your perspective with us.

The best way to answer this would be with a question. Do you care that you can't connect with most of the world and avoid family? If you care then it's very unlikely ASPD.

Prettymaggie, I don't know what is ASPD is - can you explain what that is?

I'm going to agree with cbox. If you actually care that you don't care, then you probably care. Which means you probably don't have ASPD. Sociopaths generally can't and don't want to empathize, as far as I'm aware. Could be wrong, though.

while researching this I found one poster on a thread kind of says something that was relevant to this. Of course it's their perspective but I think there's some truth in it:

I think it is true, as I've spoken to someone before about aspd, and they talked about how they were pretty un emotional, which, if you look at bpd you find emotion is not something they lack in fact emotional dysregulation is part of bpd.

It's just not likely to be BPD and ASPD, because they clash.

You just think you have ASPD because you lack empathy, and that's common with 90% of people with BPD

I looked up something when you said this because I know there's some truth in what you say but I also know it's not empathy I lack. I found this which I think is something that might help.
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I don't think it's so much that BPD lack the empathy, I care very deeply for people and try to relate to their problems and feel for them etc... but I think it's that BPD people tend to be needy and self-focused, worried about their problems so much that at times we don't show empathy because our energy is diverted toward ourselves. I think the difference in the empathy factor is that ASPD people actually don't conjure up the emotional response toward others ever.

That's just my take, but if I'm right, I say look to yourself and ask which of the two things it is, are you very worried about yourself, yoru problems and very needy therefore can't always show empathy or do you really not feel empathy for others ever?

Hence I said 90% of people. Not all people with BPD have a problem with empathy, but I certainly do.
I don't even give a ***** when I've seen a vicious crime on the news, or the charity adverts for starving children and stuff, and I hate it when people call me selfish, but I still care so much for animals. I can't stand seeing animals mistreated.

People with aspd can have empathy, pyschopaths have limited empathy if any. (There is new research saying pyschopaths can use empathy but they don't automatically.) If you're interested google pyschopath empathy switch that should bring up stuff about it. Also aspd and bpd can be co morbid so idk why people are saying you can't have both cos u can. Just like aspd can be co morbid with ptsd and anxiety disorders, even pychopaths can have anxiety disorders. Many pyschopaths suffer from paranoia. If you don't believe me don't waste time arguing just go google things and learn.

Am very similar. People I don't know am not terribly concerned. Animal I don't know absolutely horrified.

Those know to me are a different type but I definitely feel more for animals than for people.

Animals are is much nicer in my opinion.

I too have read something similar to what s4ndm4n2006 has (can't remember where though.) Where I read it it was in context of BPD vs NPD but basically it said that the BPD does feel empathy it's just really hard to express it when your own emotions are so out of control

interesting i find this strange, i have an incredible amount of empathy towards others people and animals alike, i m always trying to look for the good in everyone, a lot of times this blows up in my face, but i guess that just goes with the part of me that wants to be loved so much..from my understanding people with ASPD care nothing of love or affection & only desire to use relationships/people to gain something they desire.

I'd like to know how you came to this conclusion. I know that BPD often overlaps with PDs that have a lack of empathy as a feature (NPD and ASPD) up to 50% of the time. But your 90% figure sounds more like projection than anything else.

I personally do not lack empathy, I have too much of it.

Just a comment here: empathy and sympathy are different and can be confused most often.....as i said, just a comment.

It's not an impossible combination.

Also, I don't have a diagnosis but I have most traits of both PDs.