Cycle 7 - Video 2 - Smarter Than BPD Quiz

Understanding Borderline Personality Disorder and Splitting: How to Recognize and Manage It

• People with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) tend to see others as all good or all bad, and relationships are often seen in black or white, all or nothing terms.
• Splitting is a defense mechanism commonly used by people with BPD, where they separate people into either all good or all bad.
• People in relationships with those who use splitting often see the BPD person as hurtful and bad, leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy.
• Splitting can be a form of self-sabotage, as it pushes people away and leads to isolation and loneliness.
• One of the main symptoms of BPD is fear of abandonment, which can lead to splitting as a way to protect oneself from getting hurt or feeling abandoned.
• Recognizing the urge to split and managing it is important to reduce self-harm and hatred towards oneself.
• Emotion regulation techniques, such as check the facts or using HALT (hungry, angry, lonely, tired), can help reduce vulnerability to emotional triggers.
• It is important to learn to recognize when one is triggered and wants to split someone into all good or all bad.
• To determine if someone is toxic or if one is splitting, it is important to be a detective and look for evidence to argue against the thought of always or never.
• If evidence can be found to support another way of thinking, it is possible that one is splitting.
• If a pattern of harm and mistreatment is observed, the person may be toxic, but recognizing triggers is still important.
• Paying attention to what upsets and triggers splitting can help one become more aware and better manage the defense mechanism.