1. Look for Instability in Developing Close Personal Relationships
Individuals suffering from a borderline personality disorder usually have difficulties in maintaining close relationships with others, a trait that usually manifests itself by early adulthood. These difficulties are usually caused by impulsive behaviors that others find challenging to deal with, such as severe mood swings, indecisiveness and constantly shifting ideas about self-identity and self-worth. Extreme displays of emotions and feelings, such as anger, anxiety and irritability, often keep others at a distance. When a person with a borderline personality does manage to develop a personal relationship, it is usually intense and unstable.
2. Keep an eye out for Self-Destructive or Risky Behaviors
One way to identify signs of a borderline personality is to watch for behaviors that may be self-destructive or dangerous to the individual. For instance, an individual with a borderline personality may engage in unrealistic shopping sprees, promiscuous sexual behavior, substance abuse, reckless driving habits, eating disorders and physical fighting. These risky behaviors are usually caused by the aforementioned shifts in emotions, feelings and perceptions of self-image.
3. Watch for Dramatic Emotional Displays
Sufferers of borderline personality disorders often let everyone know about the ebb and flow of their emotions, especially when they are feeling down. Feelings of emptiness, abandonment and even suicidal tendencies are usually expressed vocally and without reservation. Self-injury or mutilation, for instance, is usually a distinct sign of a borderline personality. While many of these behaviors are designed to garner attention from others, an individual with a borderline personality disorder will occasionally miscalculate and carry through on these feelings and threats.
4. Note Any Unrealistic Feelings of Paranoia
Individuals with borderline personality disorders often exhibit paranoid tendencies which result from unrealistic perceptions of self and others. Borderline personality sufferers will often place undeserved importance on themselves and believe that the actions of others are always directed at them. Conversely, these individuals may also experience a complete lapse of identity during low periods, and feel that they do not exist at all in the real world.
5. Everything is Black and White
One of the most telling signs of a borderline personality is they way everything is perceived in black and white terms. No compromises exist. Things are either good or evil, right or wrong or answered by a yes or a no. There are no gray areas in the world of a borderline personality disorder.
