How are Bipolar and Borderline Personality Disorder Different?
What is the difference between BPD and bipolar disorder, then? Some major components separate the two. While the disorders are both characterized by mood changes, the quality of the mood changes can be very different. In BPD, mood changes are often more short-lived — they may last for a few hours at a time. In contrast, mood changes in bipolar disorder tend to last for days or even weeks. Also, mood shifts in BPD are usually in reaction to an environmental stressor (such as an argument with a loved one), whereas mood shifts in bipolar disorder may occur out-of-the-blue. Finally, the mood shifts typical of BPD rarely involve elation — usually the shift is from feeling upset to feeling “OK,” not from feeling bad to feeling a high or elevated mood, which is more typical of bipolar disorder.
