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Article in Science News

Neural paths for borderline personality disorder

Interesting article, Ellen. Thanks for posting it.

I especially found this part intriguing-- I find it to be true for me, but I previously thought it was 'all in my head':

I'd be interested to see what the other PD-type results are.

I have a problem with the VERY small number of people in these tests, but at least its a start.

The commentary from Harmonium completely resonates with me...except that I didn't used to think it was "all in my head"!!! I have always thought my observations of others was completely normal and (unfortunately) I shared that with others....only to find that they thought I was either making it up or just trying to cause trouble. Sometimes in the classroom it has worked to help me be able to "cue" into my students when the get lost or whatever....but most of the time I've found that it is more a violation of personal space for other people and I've been trying to just dismiss my observations (or keep it totally to myself). Also....I'd always assume I was right.....but of course I'm not always correct in how I interpret what I observe....and that causes unnecessary distress.

Ay de mi~!! I'm soooo happy that I can talk about this stuff with all of you........

Ah yes Skiotter, I can't tell you how many times I have been accused of "trying to start trouble" or "starting shit again"!!!

Thanks for posting this.

Something they alluded to but did not specifically go into was the hyper-sensitivity we have to body language. I find that the issue of our focus on visual cues to be very interesting.

For myself, I believe I learned this behavior as a survival mechanism growing up in an abusive home. I learned to read subtle things so I could navigate the landmine of growing up in an alcoholic home.

Finding both good and bad in people is exhausting for me. It is so much simpler to say there are two categories and ignore the bad people.

DITTO on everything you said Terrabus! Right on!

Yeah, it probably is a lot simpler to just categorize people into good and bad.....but I find that really hard to do. I mean maybe I think someone is "bad" and then I discover they've done something I consider "good" and then I'm confused as to how to label them!

I think it is easier to just accept that people are both good and bad and so are each of us. I think we have to learn to minimize our own "badness" and be good more and to forgive the "badness" in others and focus more on their "goodness". Just a thought...not meant to pick on anyone at all.....

Hmmm, I'm not won by this article. The brain's response may well be documented in a small case study, however I agree with one of the posters responding to the article:





Hmmm, these 2 statements do seem to contradict one another, as the reason, it would appear, that you get confused when a "bad" person does a "good" thing is bc accepting the dichotomy of both within us all is not easy for you.

I have found time helps to ease the effect of both a "bad" action and/or a "good" action, leaving my view more balanced. In the interim, Radical Acceptance (that people are all well-meaning even when they are capable of doing bad) is my savour.

The article itself says in essense the same thing:


Unfortunately, that bit was left out of the print edition. That's why it stood out to me. I was disappointed not to see that point in the article reading it in the magazine, and then, reading the uncut article online, pleased to see it in that version.

I was just thinking about this "good" versus "bad" concept last night as I glanced through a book I am lending to a friend. The book is called Monster by Steve Jackson and it is about my foster mother's serial rapist / killer boyfriend, Tom Luther. I was living with Deb, who has consistently been diagnosed as having BPD, when she started writing back and forth to Tom while he was in prison so she let me read his letters to her and the letters she wrote back to him. I also went with Deb to the prison to visit him since it was a long enough drive that we took turns driving and I went inside to visit him with her on occasion. I even have a Poloriod picture of my older daughter and I with him in Prison taken at the same time the picture of Deb and Tom that was published in the book was taken.

Anyway, because I was close to Tom through Deb (I am only mentioned as the "friend" she visited in Washington when Tom killed Cher), I was able to see the "good Tom" that she saw so I understood how she could be in love with him - to this day she still loves him. Deb was extremely upset when she discovered the extent of Tom's criminal record but by then she thought she could "change" him with her love. I encouraged her to continue the relationship because I thought he was good for her in many ways that Dennis was not. Deb's relationship with Dennis was always a financial one - in fact she is currently staying with him in Colorado due to financial problems she is having with her place in West Virginia (she has lost a lot of jobs over the years whenever someone would show her employer the book).

I never did see the "bad Tom" that is portrayed in the book but he did seem sort of arrogant to me when I was with them (although I usually waited in the car because I did not like being locked inside the prison, even as a visitor). The only time Tom ever talked to me about killing anyone was when he said he was going to kill my father when he got out but then his anger at my father did not scare me at that time because I was mainly upset at Deb for talking to him about me and my father when I trusted her not to tell anyone. Sadly, I could identify with the Tom that wanted to kill my father because there were times I wanted to kill him to but I never could do it. The thing that bothered me the most about Tom was that he is a compulsive liar who would tell a lie when the truth was just as good - he was not a very good liar because he could never remember his lies well enough to be consistent so he usually got caught in the lie.

I think that the reason I read true crime books about other criminals like Tom is because I understand how a person can be both good and bad at the same time. When I was little, I thought I had a "good father" and a "bad father" but the transformation happened so fast at times that it became hard to see him as two separate people. I believed that he must be the good one and that I was the bad one who made him do bad things because I was so bad. Now I see everyone as being part good and part bad, including myself.

It's a great argument for botox ....lol

My H does jump down my throat for any perceived emotions on my behalf...9/10 's he's incorrect...oh well. Being told what I feel and think...no thanks.

Black and White splitting of people. One day they Love you the next day they Hate you. Any misstep, error, or human frailty and one becomes a target.

How to open suggest to the other to open their eyes to see the rainbow and shades of gray?
I have often felt that my H is utterly BLIND to me, his demons are something else. Wreak havoc in his other relationships as well..one day his family 'good' the next day Aholes because they don't inform him of something or other instantly

Tried telling him...maybe they were busy and forgot. Nope...they're Aholes...and off he went on that tangent, forgetting all the good that they have done. If they heard the way he speaks at times....yeesh. It's not a wonder he has no close friends.