People with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) seem "dramatic" due to intense emotional sensitivity, rapid mood shifts, difficulty regulating emotions (brain wiring), fear of abandonment, and a need for validation, causing them to overreact to perceived threats or slights, often seeking attention or stability through volatile behaviors because their emotional experiences feel overwhelmingly real and catastrophic.
Different Emotional Baselines
For someone with BPD, intense emotions are a daily reality, and their responses reflect that heightened baseline. To others, this can make reactions seem extreme or unpredictable, even when they feel proportionate to the individual experiencing them.
The evidence reports that around 20–50% of patients with borderline PD experience psychotic symptoms [4], also that psychotic disorders are observed in 38% of these patients and the prevalence of 20% of psychotic disorder diagnosis not otherwise specified is the most common subtype [10].
The word “histrionic” means “dramatic or theatrical.” For people with histrionic personality disorder, their self-esteem depends on the approval of others and doesn't come from a true feeling of self-worth. They have an overwhelming desire to be noticed and often behave dramatically or inappropriately to get attention.
Impulsivity is the hallmark trait of BPD and this trait can lead to bold exaggerations and outright lies. If a person with BPD feels threatened or experiences fear about possible abandonment, they may quickly blurt out a lie to either save face or prevent someone from rejecting them.
Intermittent explosive disorder involves repeated, sudden bouts of impulsive, aggressive, violent behavior or angry verbal outbursts. The reactions are too extreme for the situation. Road rage, domestic abuse, throwing or breaking objects, or other temper tantrums may be symptoms of intermittent explosive disorder.
Why BPD Symptoms Peak in Early Adulthood. In the 20s, identity formation and independence conflict with emotional vulnerability. Research shows impulsivity and mood swings occur most frequently between the ages of 18-25.
Don't…
As a Harvard-trained psychologist, I've found that there are seven phrases you'll hear from highly narcissistic people:
A person with antisocial personality traits will typically get easily frustrated and have difficulty controlling their anger. They may blame other people for problems in their life, and be aggressive and violent, upsetting others with their behaviour.
While psychopathy and BPD share characteristics such as impulsivity, they are distinct disorders with unique features. Psychopathy is often associated with a lack of empathy and remorse, manipulative behavior, and a grandiose sense of self-worth.
Clinicians can be reluctant to make a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (BPD). One reason is that BPD is a complex syndrome with symptoms that overlap many Axis I disorders. This paper will examine interfaces between BPD and depression, between BPD and bipolar disorder, and between BPD and psychoses.
Some common types of delusions that may occur in individuals with BPD include: Persecutory delusions: Believing that one is being mistreated, harassed, or conspired against by others.
In general, Jekyll and Hyde behavior describes intense and dramatic mood swings. In some cases, these mood swings may be a symptom of narcissistic personality disorder. They could also be related to borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, or other mental health issues.
A person with BPD fluctuates between calm and anger, happiness and sadness, affection and coldness, and empathy and anger. Their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors can change at any time. Their powerful emotions can be provoked by any incident, regardless of its seeming insignificance.
The Karpman drama triangle is a model of three dysfunctional and destructive so- cial behaviors, with each corner of the tri- angle representing a cyclical, toxic role commonly exhibited by patients with BPD: the persecutor, the rescuer, and the victim.
The number one trait of a narcissist is often considered a grandiose sense of self-importance (grandiosity) combined with a profound lack of empathy, where they see others as tools for their own gain and have an inflated, often unrealistic, view of their own superiority, needing constant admiration without acknowledging others' feelings or needs, as highlighted by HelpGuide.org and The Hart Centre. This core creates other behaviors like entitlement, manipulation, and arrogance, making them believe they deserve special treatment.
Signs of gaslighting include the manipulator denying events, twisting facts, making you doubt your memory and sanity, calling you "crazy" or "too sensitive," trivializing your feelings, isolating you from support systems, and making you constantly apologize. The victim often feels confused, anxious, guilty, and dependent on the abuser for validation, losing confidence in themselves.
A narcissistic partner may often avoid taking responsibility for their actions by shifting the blame onto the victim—a control tactic commonly seen in abusive relationships, which can sometimes foster trauma bonding. They might say, “You made me do this,” or “It's your fault I'm like this.”
Conflicts and disagreements are difficult for people with BPD, as they interpret these as signals of uncaring or relationship termination, generating feelings of anger and shame.
But there are lots of positive things you can do to support them:
Jobs that draw on empathy, communication, and understanding, traits often strengthened by lived experience with BPD, can also be deeply rewarding. Examples include: Teaching assistant or education support worker. Counsellor, peer support, or mental health worker.
Conclusions: Parental externalizing psychopathology and father's BPD traits contribute genetic risk for offspring BPD traits, but mothers' BPD traits and parents' poor parenting constitute environmental risks for the development of these offspring traits.
Middle-aged adults with BPD were more likely to exhibit feelings of chronic emptiness and have higher degrees of social impairment. 4 They were less likely to have impulsivity, engage in self-harm, or have rapid shifts in mood.
Over time, people with BPD can learn to regulate emotions, build healthier connections, and strengthen their sense of self. With consistent care and practice, remission can feel like regaining control of your life and moving toward long-term well-being.