#bpd1

The world: But... other people are bipolar and have clean houses.

Me: Other people have support systems. I have two cats and five aquariums of guppies and snails.

The world: Um... why... five?

Hi there!

Firstly, every individual with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is different, and may exhibit different combinations of symptoms. According to the DSM-IV-TR (American Psychiatric Association, 2000), borderline personality disorder is diagnosed when there is a persistent pattern of unstable interpersonal relationships, mood and self-image, as well as distinct impulsive behaviour, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts. In order to get diagnosed with this disorder, you must fulfill at least 5 of the following 9 criteria:

Do you have an intense fear of being left alone, which causes you to act in ways that, on reflection, seem out of the ordinary or extreme, such as constantly phoning somebody (but not including self-harming or suicidal behaviour)?

Do you have a pattern of intense and unstable relationships with other people that switch between thinking you love that person and they’re wonderful to hating that person and thinking they’re terrible?

Do you ever feel you don’t have a strong sense of your own self and are unclear about your self-image?

Do you engage in impulsive activities in two areas that are potentially damaging, such as unsafe sex, drug abuse or reckless spending (but not including self-harming or suicidal behaviour)?

Have you made repeated suicide threats or attempts in your past and engaged in self-harming?

Do you have severe mood swings, such as feeling intensely depressed, anxious or irritable, which last from a few hours to a few days?

Do you have long-term feelings of emptiness and loneliness?

Do you have sudden and intense feelings of anger and aggression, and often find it difficult to control your anger?

When you find yourself in stressful situations, do you have feelings of paranoia, or do you feel like you’re disconnected from the world or from your own body, thoughts and behaviour?

However, there are 526 different possible combinations of BPD symptoms so no two sufferers are alike. I myself have struggled with BPD for many years so I can give you some examples from my life and explain some of the symptoms I struggle with.

Black and White (dichotomous thinking) can be a big issue for some sufferers. It is characterized by all-or-nothing thinking, seeing situations or people as either wholly good or wholly bad with little in between, and in inability to simultaneously see the good and bad together.

‘Splitting’ is a symptoms I struggle with, and it’s a term used to describe when a person with BPD flips from believing someone is all good to believing they are all bad - I tend to split on people I am close to such as family/boyfriend as opposed to strangers/acquaintances.  I also split on myself, where all my core values and beliefs about life flip. I tend to either feel immensely superior to humanity, or infinitely inferior and unworthy of existing.

Transient dissociation can occur during times of stress or extreme emotion. This can involve depersonalisation (feeling I am not real, not recognising myself), derealisation (feeling the world is not really and everything around me is disconnected. It can feel like I’m watching myself doing things but I’m not actually engaging with it.

Moulding myself to suit other people’s needs or how I want to be perceived to fit in. I can act very differently depending on who I am spending time with. I also prefer to have fewer but closer friendship than many different but less intense ones.

Impulsivity can be very difficult to deal with, because many people with BPD don’t have the barrier between having a thought and acting on it. For me this can look like very erratic behaviours like randomly jumping in a river, or impulsively spending lots of money, or taking drugs, or impulsively self harming.

Emotional intensity - BPD sufferers are described to have ‘the emotional sensitivity equivalent to a third degree burn victim’. It can feel like perpetual psychological agony or emptiness. We tend to feel everything or feel nothing.

Warped perceptions in interpersonal relationships can manifest as misinterpreting other people’s words and actions as a personal vendetta against me, and a lot of paranoia!

I used to struggle a lot with rage, and would lash out at my family in every sense, for no logical reason. I would just be filled with irrational anger that I didn’t know what to do with.

These are only my personal experiences though, and you may or may not relate to some of these symptoms. If you are worried that you are struggling with BPD or any of its traits I would really encourage you to speak to a mental health professional or a doctor. Many sufferers have chronic suicide ideation, and 10% of sufferers will complete suicide. Please don’t be afraid to reach out if you or someone you know is suffering <3

There is help available for this condition. Although there are no recommended medications for BPD, antidepressants and antipsychotics can help to alleviate symptoms. Therapies such as MBT and DBT have proven to be very successful in treating this disorder. There are also some useful links giving more information about borderline personality disorder:

NHS - BPD

MIND - BPD

A moment with BPD

Samaritans

If you have any other thoughts or questions please do send us another ask! We are always here for you and you don’t have to go through this alone <3

With love

Manfrotto MB BP-D1 DJI Professional Video Equipment Cases Drone Backpack (Grey)

Manfrotto MB BP-D1 DJI Professional Video Equipment Cases Drone Backpack (Grey) Plenty of space for all of your gear Designed to fit many different configurations of DJI Phantom Different carrying options The DJI Drone Backpack accommodates a DJI Phantom drone as well as a DSLR and lens plus a tripod. Perfect for on the go, this bag allows for multiple ways to carry the drone. Users can choose to…

Ultimate Kit for DJI Phantom 3 4K, Standard, Professional, & Advanced. Includes Manfrotto BP-D1 DJI Professional Video Equipment Cases Drone Backpack + 3 DJI Intelligent Flight Batteries + MORE

Ultimate Kit for DJI Phantom 3 4K, Standard, Professional, & Advanced. Includes Manfrotto BP-D1 DJI Professional Video Equipment Cases Drone Backpack + 3 DJI Intelligent Flight Batteries + MORE Case designed to fit many different configurations of DJI Phantom 4480mAh Lithium-Polymer Batteries; Up to 23 Minutes Flying Time Waterproof, X-Ray, and Shock-Proof Memory Card; Max. Read Speed: 80 MB/s…

Mission Statement

The project mission is to create a fun and smart social game of detective theme using an interactive multiplayer mode and reaching entirely new audience on Facebook.

Vision Statement

The vision of the project is to attract those who aren’t frequent game players and to engage them into a virtual role-playing social game. The project objectives are to have one million monthly active users and to build a long-lasting detective game community on Facebook.

SWOT-SC/PEST

The strengths of the game will be distinct characters and compelling narrative skills, as well as creating an interactive multi-player platform where users can show their negotiating and reasoning skills. The biggest risk: a new multi-player model needs to be created to get players to play together in a manner that fits their schedules, which hasn’t been done before for detective game and we have no experience at all. Another risk is considering the game has an open-ended story, we need to give players enough freedoms while still telling a fantastic story. For some player the more freedom the better, but for some other players too much freedom could be a nightmare, instead they want more guiding and control in the game. Regarding of social and moral issues, there won’t be any violent content in the game, and there will be no bloody scenes showing committing crimes and killing people. Otherwise, the game is based on fictional characters and story which won’t provide a criminal scenario for real-life scenes such as school or hospital. For technological analysis, we are a small team and none of us can do programming or coding. What I plan is we will find a proper prototype to help displaying our ideas and work. And the project will rely heavily on the work of graphic designer and content writer.

Target Market and Positioning