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I'm wondering what the difference is between Reactive attachment disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder? Does anyone know?
I grew up with what I now recognize as a mom with severe BPD behaviors. I didn't know what was going on till my best friend in college who was diagnosed as BPD displayed almost all of the same characteristics. Sadly I tried for years to deal with the both my friends and my moms behaviors but once I came to a place in my life where I decided that NOBODY had any excuse to abuse and mistreat me I had to sever both relationships. It took me a LONG time to be able to sever the relationships has I had become a caretaker in both and felt terribly guilty for "abandoning" them but it came to a point where I had been so traumatized by their behaviors that I just couldn't be a healthy person AND maintain relationships with them.
BPD and RAD both seem to manifest in ultra manipulation. With BPD I think the sufferer actually believes that their version of reality is consistent with what is really happening and that can make the people they have relationships with question if they themselves are crazy.
Both BPD and RAD seems to result in the I-hate-yous-dont-leave-me's....both pulling a person close to them selves while simultaneously doing everything in their power to make that person abandon them.
Both BPD and RAD sufferers are more than okay with hurting themselves. I think self mutilation is common in both but maybe for different reasons???
Both form really fast intimate relationships with virtual strangers over and over and over again only to quickly sabotage the relationship a few weeks/month later.
So what I am wondering is if BPD is just the diagnosis people get when they were not diagnosed with RAD as a child. Both my mother and my x-best friend were abused as children and I believe their coping strategies were a result of that. Is there anybody who is familiar with both issues who can chime in here to explain to me the similarities/differences?