Unquestionably, borderline personality disorder (BPD) and narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) can seem to the outside observer like one other. Both are typified by challenging social dynamics and the demand for outside pleasure. When we examine closer, though, both disorders have distinct symptoms and underlying causes. Still, it is not unusual for those with BPD and NPD to wind up in partnerships.
This paper will investigate both disorders, look at possible environmental causes, go over why they might be connected together, and go over what might happen should they so be drawn. Remember every person, their situation, and their relationship is different; this is only a broad summary.
Gaining Knowledge on Borderline Personality Disorder
The DSM-1V describes Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) as a "pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image and affects and marked impulsivity." Among the more typically occurring symptoms are:
Inappropriate interpersonal interactions
Unrest in attitude dysphoria
Injurious behavior directed inward
Abandonment-related fear
Unadaptive coping mechanisms
Limited occupational performance
Considering someone with BPD as having trouble returning to their emotional baseline helps one to grasp the disorder.
For someone with BPD, this could cause a significant, long-lasting emotional reaction even if others without BPD would see something that irritates them, become somewhat furious about it, and move on. In the same vein, if something positive occurs, BPD sufferers may experience ecstatically delighted for far longer than others might. For friends, family, and loved ones, these enormous emotional highs and lows can be challenging to manage and lead to relationship strife.
Like many mental health disorders, the exact origin of BPD is still unknown; it is believed to result from a mix of environmental, genetic, and historical elements including:
Abuse in childhood—especially severe and consistent abuse
Neglect: Inheritance
Part from loved ones
Recognising Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Research indicates that narcissism typically begins to show up around the ages of seven or eight - at the moment we begin to evaluate ourselves in relation to others. All narcissism is fundamentally based on the conviction that the sufferer is somehow better than others.
A mix of environmental and genetic elements is supposed to lead to narcissism. We run the danger of acquiring Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) if we grow up with parents who over-exaggerate our successes and good traits yet only barely interact with us. One level we are being told we are superior than others; on another, we are receiving the contradictory message that we are not worth serious interaction with.
People might have narcissistic features or be clinically diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder; hence, narcissism is believed to be on a spectrum. Typical complaints of the latter are:
Having a self-centered viewpoint
Grandiosity: Emotions
Being ready to take advantage of people to achieve desired results
An intense craving for admiration
a strong lack of compassion
An obsession with control
What develops in a relationship between someone with BPD and someone with NPD?
Although in an unhealthy way, relationships between people with BPD and NPD might enable each other meet their demands. For the BPD sufferer, they see everything they cannot achieve in the narcissist; this person seems certain and confident. The emotional instability of BPD magnifies their sense of the ideal counterpoint to their own fears.
Often at the expense of the BPD sufferer's boundaries and feelings, the person with NPD may exploit someone with BPD to meet their need for validation. This ravenous demand for attention combined with BPD's elevated emotions creates a hazardous mix. Should the desires of the person with NPD go unmet, they may often reject the person with BPD and set off their fear of abandonment.
The party with BPD, meantime, is not invariably the victim. Sometimes their severe behavior drives the person with NPD so far that they choose to move on and have their wants satisfied by someone else. Should the person with BPD pursue them following this, it can feed the need for control and attention of the person with NPD.
Point of View to Remember
Remember that although the actions of both sides in this relationship have the ability to inflict suffering and anguish, it is not done with malice. Though unpleasant as they seem, they are merely following a maladaptive strategy (typically acquired in childhood) to meet their needs[5].
But in the framework of a BPD/NPD relationship, these problems cannot be treated by adhering to the same patterns; rather, trauma-informed therapy is needed. Therapeutic intervention helps break the pattern so that children could avoid adopting those maladaptive coping mechanisms and grow up in disorderly surroundings.
Unquestionably, borderline personality disorder (BPD) and narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) can seem to the outside observer like one other. Both are typified by challenging social dynamics and the demand for outside pleasure. When we examine closer, though, both disorders have distinct symptoms and underlying causes. Still, it is not unusual for those with BPD and NPD to wind up in partnerships.
This paper will investigate both disorders, look at possible environmental causes, go over why they might be connected together, and go over what might happen should they so be drawn. Remember every person, their situation, and their relationship is different; this is only a broad summary.
Gaining Knowledge on Borderline Personality Disorder
The DSM-1V describes Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) as a "pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image and affects and marked impulsivity." Among the more typically occurring symptoms are:
Inappropriate interpersonal interactions
Unrest in attitude dysphoria
Injurious behavior directed inward
Abandonment-related fear
Unadaptive coping mechanisms
Limited occupational performance
Considering someone with BPD as having trouble returning to their emotional baseline helps one to grasp the disorder.
For someone with BPD, this could cause a significant, long-lasting emotional reaction even if others without BPD would see something that irritates them, become somewhat furious about it, and move on. In the same vein, if something positive occurs, BPD sufferers may experience ecstatically delighted for far longer than others might. For friends, family, and loved ones, these enormous emotional highs and lows can be challenging to manage and lead to relationship strife.
Like many mental health disorders, the exact origin of BPD is still unknown; it is believed to result from a mix of environmental, genetic, and historical elements including:
Abuse in childhood—especially severe and consistent abuse
Neglect: Inheritance
Part from loved ones
Recognising Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Research indicates that narcissism typically begins to show up around the ages of seven or eight - at the moment we begin to evaluate ourselves in relation to others. All narcissism is fundamentally based on the conviction that the sufferer is somehow better than others.
A mix of environmental and genetic elements is supposed to lead to narcissism. We run the danger of acquiring Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) if we grow up with parents who over-exaggerate our successes and good traits yet only barely interact with us. One level we are being told we are superior than others; on another, we are receiving the contradictory message that we are not worth serious interaction with.
People might have narcissistic features or be clinically diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder; hence, narcissism is believed to be on a spectrum. Typical complaints of the latter are:
Having a self-centered viewpoint
Grandiosity: Emotions
Being ready to take advantage of people to achieve desired results
An intense craving for admiration
a strong lack of compassion
An obsession with control
What develops in a relationship between someone with BPD and someone with NPD?
Although in an unhealthy way, relationships between people with BPD and NPD might enable each other meet their demands. For the BPD sufferer, they see everything they cannot achieve in the narcissist; this person seems certain and confident. The emotional instability of BPD magnifies their sense of the ideal counterpoint to their own fears.
Often at the expense of the BPD sufferer's boundaries and feelings, the person with NPD may exploit someone with BPD to meet their need for validation. This ravenous demand for attention combined with BPD's elevated emotions creates a hazardous mix. Should the desires of the person with NPD go unmet, they may often reject the person with BPD and set off their fear of abandonment.
The party with BPD, meantime, is not invariably the victim. Sometimes their severe behavior drives the person with NPD so far that they choose to move on and have their wants satisfied by someone else. Should the person with BPD pursue them following this, it can feed the need for control and attention of the person with NPD.
Point of View to Remember
Remember that although the actions of both sides in this relationship have the ability to inflict suffering and anguish, it is not done with malice. Though unpleasant as they seem, they are merely following a maladaptive strategy (typically acquired in childhood) to meet their needs[5].
But in the framework of a BPD/NPD relationship, these problems cannot be treated by adhering to the same patterns; rather, trauma-informed therapy is needed. Therapeutic intervention helps break the pattern so that children could avoid adopting those maladaptive coping mechanisms and grow up in disorderly surroundings.