Which personality disorder includes lack of stability in interpersonal relationships, self-image, and emotion, with impulsivity and fear of abandonment?

Which personality disorder includes lack of stability in interpersonal relationships, self-image, and emotion, with impulsivity and fear of abandonment?

• A. Borderline personality disorder
• B. Histrionic personality disorder
• C. Dependent personality disorder
• D. Narcissistic personality disorder

Answer: (A)

This item tests recognition of a pattern of personality functioning characterized by instability in relationships, self-image, and emotions, with impulsivity and fear of abandonment. That combination is most characteristic of Borderline personality disorder. People with this pattern often have intense, rapidly changing relationships that swing between idealizing someone and then suddenly devaluing them, along with a fluctuating sense of who they are. Emotional responses tend to be intense and quickly shifts, and impulsive actions—such as risky behaviors or self-harming acts—are common as attempts to cope with distress. Fear of real or imagined abandonment can drive frantic efforts to avoid separation, sometimes leading to clinginess or dramatic reactions. The other disorders emphasize different core features—dramatic attention-seeking in one, a pervasive need to be cared for in another, or a grandiose sense of self in the last—while not capturing the distinctive mix of relationship and self-image instability, emotion lability, impulsivity, and abandonment concerns seen here.

This item tests recognition of a pattern of personality functioning characterized by instability in relationships, self-image, and emotions, with impulsivity and fear of abandonment. That combination is most characteristic of Borderline personality disorder. People with this pattern often have intense, rapidly changing relationships that swing between idealizing someone and then suddenly devaluing them, along with a fluctuating sense of who they are. Emotional responses tend to be intense and quickly shifts, and impulsive actions—such as risky behaviors or self-harming acts—are common as attempts to cope with distress. Fear of real or imagined abandonment can drive frantic efforts to avoid separation, sometimes leading to clinginess or dramatic reactions. The other disorders emphasize different core features—dramatic attention-seeking in one, a pervasive need to be cared for in another, or a grandiose sense of self in the last—while not capturing the distinctive mix of relationship and self-image instability, emotion lability, impulsivity, and abandonment concerns seen here.