Borderline Personality Disorder and Psychopathy
The range of mental disorders is diverse and tricky. They often follow one other, create a whimsy combination of features impacting personality, and it is quite easy for a non-specialist to mistake one for another. The most typical comprehension mistake in terms of mental disorders refers to the withstanding of borderline personality disorder vs psychopathy. Both these states of mind result in weird behavioral patterns in a patient. Yet, are they similar? They are not! In this article, you can get comprehensive information about these two conditions and make a clear vision of what is BPD and what is psychopathy.
Is BPD Psychotic or Neurotic Disorder?
First, what is borderline personality disorder also known as BPD? It is a bunch of specific symptoms caused by multiple reasons in a person resulting in such behavioral patterns as constant mood swings, increased anger or anxiety, suicidal behavior, self-harm, and unstable relationship-building patterns. Although the traits of BPD were diagnosed in patients long before its official recognition, only in 1980, the definition of this disorder was accepted in the scientific environment. The peculiarity of BPD is that this mental dysfunction has both neurotic and psychotic features. That’s what differentiates it from the spectre of disorders collectively known as psychopathy.
The Core Differences BetweenBPD and Psychopathy
The most distinctive features of BPD are as follows:
- Persons with BPD have difficulties with building healthy relationships with their partners. Typically, they have inflated expectations from relationships and quickly get disappointed with them.
- BPD patients experience low control over their emotions and deeds. They are expressive and impulsive in their actions and feelings.
- Often, a borderline personality disorder is combined with depression issues, suicidal behavior and self-harm.
- At the same time, BPD patients have no lack of empathy, they behave socially and often succeed in relationships although the feeling of abundance interferes with them.
When talking about psychopathy, this is not a separate disorder but a condition which accompanies other disorders or can be simply a specific character feature. The most distinctive features of a psychopath are a lack of empathy, antisocial behavior, and no remorse for their actions even if they evidently harm someone.
Often, scientists regard BPD as secondary psychopathy because this type of psychopath shows more BPD-characteristic features including anxiety and irritability, poor interpersonal relationships and lack of self-estimation [1]. These are features characteristic of primary psychopaths. Yet, the core difference between borderline personality disorder and psychopathy can be embodied in the following 3 points.
- Psychopaths typically are charismatic and express self-grandiosity while BPD patients often feel empty, and useless and their self-identification is poor.
- Emotional instability is a core feature of borderline personality disorder while psychopaths are not unstable, they simply are impulsive but rigid in their emotions.
- While psychopaths have no remorse at all and BPD persons on the contrary after their episodes of impulsive behavior feel guilty and they often accuse themselves of all the problems in their relationships. The concept ‘I’m bad’ is about BPD while the concept ‘I’m great’ is about psychopathy.
Symptoms of BPD and Psychopathy Which Help to Diagnose Mental Dysfunctions Correctly
To decide flawlessly on the diagnosis, be it BPD or psychopathy, it is better to understand the main symptoms of both these mental states. For BPD, the most obvious are the following:
- Intense mood swings without any reason.
- Fear of being lonely or abandoned.
- Depression and suicidal issues.
- Self-harm and suppression.
- Impulsive behavior which can result in multiple unsafe activities, addictions, and compulsive activities.
In psychopaths, the core feature signaling the diagnosis are issues of antisocial behavior, lack of empathy, lack of regard and remorse. The things uniting BPD and psychopathy are only impulsive behavior and tending to manipulate people but when a BPD patient does this for the sake of feeling loved and not abandoned, psychopaths manipulate to reach their vicious goals.
Which TreatmentIs the Most Effective forBorderline Personality Disorder and Psychopathy
Considering BPD vs psychopathy, it is worth saying that it is a die-hard task to treat psychopathy. Typically, the treatment is targeted at diminishing and managing its symptoms to prevent asocial behavior episodes which can be hazardous both for a psychopath and for its environment. On the contrary, borderline personality disorder can be successfully treated using the methods of medication treatment, psychotherapeutic methods, and life skills development practices.
In the end, BPD people can live their normal lives with the minimal impact of their diagnosis on their lifestyle or socialization while psychopathy is a complex state which is badly compensated and hardly diagnosed because of the superficious charisma and mimic skills of a psychopath.
Summarizing the Differences Between BPD and Psychopathy
Making brief summaries, BPD is not similar to psychopathy. This disorder is not unintentionally called ‘borderline’ as it balances between neuropathic and psychopathic features. Yet, its diagnostics and treatment are simple enough and require the readiness of a patient to improve their life quality. In URP Behavioral Health, we successfully provide help for BPD patients with a diverse range of symptoms, severity of manifestation, and overall health conditions.
Psychopathy is not a disorder itself. It’s a part of various mental disorders, especially, classified as psychopathic ones with 4 basic types. Only secondary psychopathy resembles BPD in its manifestation but the treatment for it is quite another and requires psychiatric expertise.
