A BPD Therapists’ Guide to Understanding BPD Symptoms


There’s an old saying among those who help people with ADHD: “ADHD seldom travels alone.” People who struggle with ADHD often suffer from anxiety, depression, and other serious conditions such as a personality disorder.

One of the hardest co-occurring conditions to identify is Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). All personality disorders, including BPD, involve developmental abnormalities; at some time in a child’s life, for whatever reason, normal human development didn’t fully take place. It’s as if part of a person’s personality is still “stuck” in that earlier stage of development. Let’s understand the deeper facets of BPD symptoms with BPD therapists’ expert analysis.


How Do Symptoms Of BPD Differ From ADHD Symptoms?


Understand The BPD Symptoms

· BPD is characterized by a deficit in emotional self-regulation. This hyper-reactivity results in all-or-nothing thinking, “magical” thinking, and the inability to adequately perceive what is going on in other people’s minds. People with BPD often suffer from quick-forming but temporary mood swings presenting as anxiety, anger, and depression, which can lead to impulsivity and in recurring thoughts of suicide.

· BPD is considered a psychological disorder. While medication can help with co-occurring anxiety and depression, which can there is no medication to address the underlying developmental causes of BPD. Certain forms of psychotherapy are demonstrated to be effective in helping teens and adults “install” the missing developmental pieces, and resulting in genuine recovery from BPD.



Understand The ADHD Symptoms

· ADHD on the other hand is a forum of neuro-divergence, something “built-in” from birth. People with ADHD process information differently from the rest of us. Since so many people have this difference, we might suppose that along the way there was some evolutionary advantage to having at least a few people in each tribe with these specialized capacities. For better or worse educational and workplace conditions have been established by the non-ADHD majority which presents recognizable challenges to those with ADHD.

· The effects of these challenges are sometimes similar to the effects of BPD. To have ADHD in a non-ADHD world obviously brings stress and anxiety, and sometimes feelings of exclusion that generate depression, making mood swings common to ADHD and BPD. Impulsivity is characteristic of ADHD as well as BPD, though for different reasons. Years of living in a world where other people seem to play by a different set of rules can cause distortions in thinking patterns for people with ADHD.

· ADHD is not a curable psychological disorder, but a life-long neurological difference. The effects of ADHD, however, can be treated with medication and/or ADHD Coaching. For those wrestling with the psychological impacts of ADHD, ADHD-informed psychotherapy can be vital.

Final Thoughts

Complicating matters further is the high rate of co-occurrence of ADHD and BPD. Research is ongoing, but expert BPD therapists and researchers from reputable institutes are now estimating that one-third to one-half of individuals with BPD also have ADHD and people with ADHD are twelve times more likely than the non-ADHD population to have BPD.

It may be possible that researchers one day discover a genetic commonality between ADHD and the genetic disposition toward the development of BPD.

If you are unsure about whether your symptoms are ADHD-related or BPD-related, you are not alone. You should seek help from Registered Health Professionals who understand both conditions, and who are part of a team that regularly consults on clients with one or both of these conditions. 

Learn More: A Comprehensive Guide on BPD

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