Borderline Personality Disorder vs Bipolar Disorder

Understanding the difference between Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar Disorder

Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar Disorder are often misdiagnosed and confused for one another, and they are often comorbid disorders (meaning that if a person has one, they often have the other). It is important to understand the difference between the two because while there is a lot of overlap of symptoms, the way the symptoms manifest often differ and the treatment for the two disorders differ from one another.

Symptoms

First lets look at the symptoms. In Borderline Personality disorder a person often experiences difficulties in regulating their emotions which can lead to mood swings, impulsiveness (and reckless behavior), and unstable relationships. People with borderline personality disorder also experience a fear of abandonment as well as unstable sense of identity resulting in low self-esteem and self worth which can then lead to suicidal tendencies such as attempts and nonsuicidal self-injurious behaviors. The symptoms of Bipolar Disorder, like BPD include mood swings. These mood swings consist of a mania (euphoria) and depression. When manic a person may engage in reckless, impulsive behavior much like someone who has BPD. When depressed a person with bipolar may display behaviors characteristic of BPD such as the low self-esteem and self-worth.

How do they differ?

One way in which the two disorders differ is that BPD symptoms are consistent and ongoing, as a part of a persons personality. People with bipolar disorder often experiences breaks between the mood swings and have a baseline personality that differs from their mania or depressive episodes.

The mood swings associated with BPD are also shorter lived and may last only a few hours, and at most a few days. Whereas a shift in mood for someone with bipolar disorder may last a few days to a few months or longer.

The nature of impulsive and reckless behavior also differs between the two. Impulsivity is generally only an issue for someone with bipolar disorder when they are in a manic episode. A person with borderline personality disorder finds controlling behavior to be an ongoing problem regardless of emotional state.

Another key difference between the two is the onset of the mood swings. In borderline personality disorder mood swings are typically triggered by an external source. In bipolar disorder mood swings often cannot be traced back to an external trigger, but instead are thought to occur due to a change in brain activity and neurochemistry.

The two disorders also differ in their approach to treatment. Treatment of bipolar disorder is often effective with the use of meds and psychotherapy to learn how to manage their bipolar disorder. People with borderline personality disorder are often a little bit less responsive to medications because the behaviors associated with borderline personality disorder are more learned behaviors instead of chemical reactions, therefore the treatment for BPD is often cognitive behavior therapies such as Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) which focuses on learning how to regulate emotions and manage crisis behaviors.

Conclusion

I hope this article helps you to understand the difference between the two, whether you yourself or someone you know has one or both of these disorders. Understanding the difference between the two is important because it can change the approach that a person takes to manage their symptoms and behaviors.

Discussion Questions:

Can you tell the difference between borderline and bipolar symptoms when youre experiencing them?

How might your approach to managing behaviors and emotions change based on whether the symptoms are related to BPD or bipolar disorder? This can be answered even if you dont suffer from the disorders but know someone who does.

Do you think theres a way to prevent the confusion and misdiagnosis of these disorders?