ABSTRACT
A technical-sounding expression introduced to refer to people who, as DSM IV puts it, display ‘a pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity that begins by early adulthood and is present in a variety of contexts’. Nine criteria are listed, which, if five or more are present, justify the diagnosis (I note that I meet three of these!). This is deceptive, ‘any pervasive’ rather than ‘a pervasive’ would be more accurate given the variegated nature of the list. A case could be made that this is a typical example of a phrase which, while conveying an air of expert authority, is in reality a confession of ignorance. Its function is primarily to impose a false image of bureaucratic order on multi-dimensional chaos. However, putting this label on someone also makes everyone else feel a lot better (including perhaps the sufferer themselves). ‘Oh, they’ve got BPD, that’s okay then.’
