The Benefits of Borderline Personality Disorder

Yep, there are benefits! It's not all bad..

The intense and "irrational" symptoms of someone with #BPD are met with extreme happiness, great imagination, and an ability to empathize with others that is second to none.

Considered to be an impairment of the way a person thinks, a person with BPD not only faces the struggles of the condition itself but the stigma surrounding the diagnosis. The majority of the information available regarding BPD makes the person with the condition sound very manipulative, uncontrollable, impulsive, crazy, and most importantly, unfixable. This couldn't be farther from the truth.

With this, they often face discrimination and isolation from those who simply don't understand the disorder.

To explain. On a scale of 1-100. 1 being no emotion, and 100 being an unbearable amount. The average person starts their day at an emotional level of about 20. A person with #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder starts their day at about 80. So, when faced with the same situation that adds (let's say 25) to their emotional level, the average person is around 45. While the person with BPD is raised to 105, now past the unbearable level.

They now have the emotions to contend with, along with being self-aware, knowing their emotions, and inevitable actions have never matched those of anybody around them.

Try to imagine the last time your emotions were to an unbearable level, now imagine that your reactions to those emotions caused an even bigger issue. This is the daily life of a person with BPD.

People with BPD have to be strong, and resilient to fight the constant battle with their internal pain and deal with the world around them. They develop quite a few skills to allow them to do this, as a means of survival. And due to the higher emotional level, people with BPD experience remarkably rich and intense lives filled with both highs and lows. Higher than the highest of highs and lower than the lowest of lows of most other people.

Here's a list of the upsides of #BPD!

Resilience - the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness. #Bordrelines have to bounce back from emotional rollercoasters every day of their life. I'd say they are just about born with this skill.

Very Intuitive, High Awareness Level, Instinctive - People with #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder subconsciously mirror the emotions of the people around them. Being able to do this on a subconscious level, they have a very high and instinctive level of awareness of the people around them. (Not to say they never misread those around them. This is quite common actually.) They are also very aware of themselves and constantly wonder how their actions will affect someone else's emotions. This comes from the suppressed desire for someone else to do the same thing for them.

Lively, Spontaneous - Borderlines can be very sporadic, but this can be a good thing if controlled. Don't you wish you had the nerve to "just go do it" sometimes? Wherever, or whatever it may be that's tugging at you. A borderline will enthusiastically find a way to make it happen, or just fly by the seat of their pants and figure it out as they go.

Loyal, Intense, & Passionate - People with #BPD are extremely loyal and passionate in their relationships. Their fear of abandonment causes them to go above and beyond to hold onto the people they don't want to leave them. (not to say they can't #split on these people.. more on that another time)

Empathy - A large number of studies have shown enhanced empathy in individuals with #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder. The information has been around for quite some time actually.

This is a good quality to have to an extent, but it comes at a hefty price to someone with #BPD. A borderline is constantly concerned about the emotions of others, and generally mirrors the emotion of whoever is around them. They often subconsciously overdo things for others that they wish others would do for them.

Humble, Appreciative - Lacking a real sense of self leads to low self-worth. This results in most people with #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder being extremely humble and appreciative of just about everything anyone does for them, believing they don't deserve anything at all. Even though they overdo for others, it's extremely difficult for a #Borderline to ask something of someone else. It's far easier to just do without or figure it out themselves than to ask someone else (other than maybe a very close friend or family member) for it or to do whatever it may be.

Alluring, Interesting - There are stories referring to people with BPD as “sirens.” Their extreme awareness of others' emotions can easily make someone feel extremely important, safe, and comfortable with them.

High Pain Tolerance - unfortunately, heightened during moments of self-harm mainly.

When you're happy, you're HAPPY!!!

Those with #BPD are often referred to as "easily amused." Compared to the "average" person this could definitely be the case, as they are able to see the good, or find the joy in the smallest, often most random things!

In conclusion, I hope you allow the next #Borderline you encounter to bring more than a stereotype to mind. They are individuals, each with their own story, thoughts, and emotions. Give them a chance to show you who they are, and come to your conclusion about them based on that. You just might find they bring a lot of excitement and joy to your life!

Thank you for sharing your time with me..

I hope you have a WONDERFUL day!

-Borderline Brooke