Why Borderline Personality Disorder is a Bullshit Diagnosis

October 11, 2024

I had a conversation with one of my best friends this morning. She’d been reading her psych notes and saw the Borderline Personality Disorder diagnosis. She reacted in horror, just as I had when I read my psych notes. For a while, I felt like shit about myself. But after a while, after I studied a bit and pondered on the sad sorry sordid label for a year or so, I figured out that Borderline Personality Disorder is a bullshit diagnosis.

I’ve lifted the traits from an article titled: What is borderline personality disorder (BPD)?

I will now attempt to refute each trait, because BPD is a bullshit diagnosis:

• I often feel “empty.”

Who hasn’t felt empty at some point in their life? We can never know another fully nor be fully known. Recognizing we can only every have imperfect incomplete connections results in a feeling of emptiness. Normal. Human.

• My emotions shift very quickly, and I often experience extreme sadness, anger, and anxiety.

Having mood shifts in response to certain stressors at times sounds pretty normal and pretty human to me.

In my case, I have the added bonus of rapid cycling bipolar. Not all the time, but certainly at times. There have…