Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) are two conditions that can be difficult to differentiate as they share some similar symptoms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two personality disorders are both listed in the \u201cB cluster\u201d group in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) and both include erratic, dramatic, and emotional behaviors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, they are distinct disorders with separate diagnostic criteria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Borderline Personality Disorder is a mental condition in which people engage in reckless and impulsive behavior and exhibit unstable moods and relationships<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Narcissistic Personality Disorder is a mental condition in which people exhibit unstable and intensive emotions<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n They manifest an inflated sense of self-importance and superiority compared to others. To further complicate the issue, BPD and NPD have a rate of co-morbidity of 25% to 37%, depending on the source that is quoted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (BPD) individuals typically experience brief psychotic mood swings that can transform in minutes or in hours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n People with BPD often suffer from other associated disorders including depression, anxiety, substance abuse, eating disorders, and suicidal behavior. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Statistics show that BPD is diagnosed three times more in women than it is in men. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Reading Suggestions:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n BPD is manifested by a pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, <\/p>\n\n\n\n self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n (NPD) individuals experience an inflated sense of self-importance and superiority yet actually suffer from insecurity and a fragile self-esteem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The hallmark trait, though, is their lack of empathy for others. Statistics indicate that men are more likely to be diagnosed with NPD than women. <\/p>\n\n\n\n They demonstrate behavioral traits such as arrogance, lack of empathy, dominance, superiority and power-seeking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n People with NPD are less likely to stay in committed relationships and tend to leave a person who they think might<\/em> be leaving them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to DSM-IV, NPD is characterized by a pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy, <\/p>\n\n\n\n beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n People suffering with Borderline Personality Disorder or Narcissistic Personality Disorder share many similar characteristics, and both disorders occur in 1 to 2% of the population. <\/p>\n\n\n\n They experience a distorted sense of self, exhibit anger issues, and demonstrate a pattern of idealizing others and then devaluing them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other similarities between BPD and NPD include:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Borderline and Narcissist both are in their own self-centered universe with little or no concern for how their behavior affects other people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n NPD individuals expect others to revolve around their universe as if they were planets around the sun (the NPD being the sun and the center of the universe of course). <\/p>\n\n\n\n BPD individuals envelop their universe around<\/em> another person as if to fuse them together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The NPD is completely absorbed with his self image and buries his emotions, while the BPD is concerned only with her immediate needs and has no control over her emotions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n People with NPD and BPD are extremely fearful of abandonment but handle it in distinct, separate ways. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Borderline person will literally cling to the relationship while the Narcissist will abandon the relationship before the other person has a chance to abandon him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Both BPD and NPD individuals harbor excessive feelings of rage inside, which can explode unpredictably. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As one author succinctly put it, \u201cThe BPD will dump on you while the NPD dumps you altogether.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both BPD and NPD individuals exhibit arrested emotional development; BPD is estimated at a developmental level of about age three while NPD is generally estimated at about age six.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Borderline Personality Disorder and Narcissistic Personality Disorder are two separate disorders and have a number of differences that distinguish the two. <\/p>\n\n\n\n People with BPD tend to be highly impulsive and may engage in compulsive behaviors like excessive spending, binge eating, and risky sexual behavior. <\/p>\n\n\n\n BPD individuals are more likely to engage in self-harming or self-mutilating behaviors such as cutting or suicide attempts. People with NPD have an exaggerated sense of self-worth and think nothing of exploiting others to get their needs met. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Narcissists rarely self-injure or make suicide attempts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other differences between Borderline Personality Disorder and Narcissistic Personality Disorder:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A Narcissist can experience \u201cnormal\u201d emotions with the exception of empathy. A Borderline can often be empathic to a fault, putting others before herself at the cost of her own well-being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Narcissists need other people for attention; they require them as sources of Narcissistic Supply. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Narcissistic Supply is anything that builds the narcissist\u2019s ego up and confirms their superiority, grandiosity, or sense of entitlement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n They are terrified of losing their source of Supply. People with BPD, however,\u00a0fear abandonment in general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Narcissists are characterized by feelings of grandiosity whereas Borderline person finds that anathema to their personality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGrandiosity\u201d refers to the traits of exaggerating one\u2019s achievements and talents and\/or expecting to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Grandiose feelings or ideation are contrary to BPD while NPD\u2019s revel in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBorderline Personality Disorder <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Signs of BPD<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Narcissistic Personality Disorder <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Signs of Narcissism<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Similarities between BPD and NPD<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Differences between BPD and NPD<\/h2>\n\n\n\n