An example of splitting is when someone rapidly shifts from seeing a person as "all good" (idealizing) to "all bad" (devaluing), viewing them as perfect one moment and then worthless the next, often after a minor conflict, using extreme words like "always" or "never" to describe situations or people. This "black-and-white" thinking is a defense mechanism, common in Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), to cope with complex feelings by creating rigid, polarized categories.
Splitting can surface during emotionally intense conversations, often when a person feels misunderstood or overwhelmed. For example, if a person with BPD is having a disagreement with their significant other, they may say things like, “You're always terrible to me,” even when the past evidence doesn't support that.
Examples of splitting behavior may include:
Changing perception about someone — A common sign of splitting is putting a person on a pedestal but then calling them toxic later on, or vice versa. This can result in begging someone to stay in one's life after pushing them away or trying to cut them off.
A narcissist may expel bad behavior from their memory by using an unconscious defense mechanism: splitting. Splitting is a defense mechanism similar to denial and distortion but most closely related to dissociation.
A split might often be caused by an event that triggers the extreme binary emotions that characterise EUPD. Sometimes, these events might seem harmless or small to people without EUPD, but they may in some way, relate to previous trauma. This event might spark fears of abandonment, separation or severe anxiety.
One of the DSM IV-TR criteria for this disorder is a description of splitting: "a pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation".
DID symptoms may trigger (happen suddenly) after: Removing yourself from a stressful or traumatic environment (like moving homes). Close relatives or your children reaching the age at which you experienced trauma. A recent traumatic or stressful experience (like a vehicle accident).
While there are 10 different personality disorders, many of them share similar symptoms.
Types of Splits in Gymnastics
Schema-focused therapy:
This approach focuses on identifying and challenging core beliefs or schemas that underlie splitting and other maladaptive patterns. By addressing these deep-seated beliefs, we can make lasting changes in our thinking and behaviour.
Childhood trauma splitting started as a coping strategy for overwhelming experiences. When chronic narcissistic abuse or stressful events such as parents' arguments, physical violence, verbal abuse, or prolonged neglect happened, you had no choice but to cut off.
The Main Symptoms of Quiet BPD
Emotional Suppression: Those with quiet BPD tend to bottle up their emotions, keeping their inner turmoil hidden from the outside world. They may experience deep anger or sadness but prefer to internalize these feelings instead of expressing them outwardly.
The “3 C's” often used in understanding BPD are: Clinginess (fear of abandonment), Conflict (intense relationships and mood swings), and Confusion (unstable self-image and identity).
Common splitting borderline personality disorder symptoms include: Sudden mood swings: When someone is in a splitting episode, it can cause rapid and dramatic changes in mood, unstable emotions, and impulsive behavior. They might instantly become furious or thrilled, even if they felt the opposite way before.
Some common warning signs include intense and rapidly changing emotions, often triggered by seemingly minor events. Individuals with BPD may exhibit impulsive behaviors such as substance abuse, binge eating, or reckless driving.
Without revealing too many personal details, I admit that I recently fell victim to something called “splitting”. Splitting is a manipulative behaviour, often favoured by people with severe versions of Borderline and Narcissistic Personality Disorders, where you literally split people against each other.
Symptoms
Dissociative identity disorder (DID), commonly known as multiple personality disorder (MPD), is a contentious mental health condition that typically arises as a result of traumatic events to help people avoid unpleasant memories.
Kevin Wendell Crumb (better known by the alias of “The Horde”) is the central protagonist of the Eaststrail 177 film trilogy, serving as the main antagonist of Shyamalan's 2016 thriller Split and the secondary antagonist of Glass through his 23 split personalities, namely Dennis, a cold, sociopathic, demented man, ...
Jealousy can often drive people to be mean or resentful toward others. This leads a person to be mean or resentful to you because they do not have what you have. A person might see themselves as inferior for not having what you have and react to these feelings of jealousy by trying to make you feel bad about yourself.
Black-and-white thinking is when someone sees things as all good or all bad, with no middle ground or gray area. For example, you might decide you hate a type of food after one bite or think someone is a terrible person because they made a single mistake.