What are the symptoms a psychologist looks for to diagnose someone with BPD?

Question

like what would signs and symptoms would cause a psychologist to diagnose a person with BPD?

Answer 1

Hey.  A psychologist or psychiatrist will use the DSM-IV criteria to diagnose Borderline Personality Disorder.

But, the most common symptoms that are "red flags" are:

Fear of abandonment

Self-harm

Primative defense mechanisms like Splitting, where you make people all-good or all-bad

There are 9 criteria, but these 3 are very specific to BPD.  

Answer 2

Okay, above answer is a little extreme, but yes, you do need to be wary of psychiatric drugs, they hand them out all too easily and assume it will fix everything. And there has been some research so far suggesting SSRIs can increase the chances of feeling suicidal *in some people*.

A psychologist isn't a medical doctor so they can't make an official diagnosis but they can send you to a psychiatrist who can.

Symptoms are based on the current psychiatric diagnostic manual, DSM-IV (in USA and Australia, European one has a different name). Not completely accurate but some info is in the sites below.

http://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/publ...

http://www.helpguide.org/mental/bipolar_...

Answer 3

no matter what the symptoms are, STAY away from the pill pushers!

1 in 5 people can't metabolize the POISON they push on b.p.d.'s and it MAKES THEM SUICIDAL/HOMICIDAL!

2 of these were my brother in law, then his son, both KILLED BY THAT c**p!

im NOT PLAYING HERE!

stay away from the ssri's!

Answer 4

This is a decent short summary http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publicati...

A little more http://www.palace.net/~llama/psych/bpd.h...

Google.  There's lots out there.

Answer 5

self harm

suicidal thoughts

substance abuse

feelings of emptiness

low self esteem

anxiety/depression