Famous People with BPD (13+ people)

In this brief guide, we will look at a list of famous people with BPD, or Borderline personality disorder, as well as the signs and symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder. 

Famous People with BPD

There are many famous people with BPD, and here is a list of the most well known ones:

  • Angelina Jolie
  • Courtney Love
  • Lindsay Lohan
  • Britney Spears
  • Amy Winehouse
  • Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald
  • Lady Diana
  • Marilyn Monroe
  • Jim Carrey
  • Ben Stiller
  • Nicolas Cage
  • Kurt Cobain
  • Robbie Williams
  • Elizabeth Wurtzel
  • Bibi Aisha
  • Jane Andrews
  • Jodi Arias
  • Ruthann Aron
  • Madison Bailey
  • Bobby Baker (artist)
  • Kate Bornstein
  • Tim Buckley
  • Frank Carrone
  • Andrei Chikatilo
  • Alton Coleman
  • Stan Collymore
  • Tessa Dahl
  • Jeffrey Dahmer
  • Farah Damji
  • Doc Corbin Dart
  • Garry David
  • Pete Davidson
  • Joanna Dennehy
  • Nicola Edgington
  • Larry Eyler
  • Doug Ferrari
  • Emma Forrest
  • Darrell Hammond
  • Nikki Hayes
  • Elizabeth Haysom
  • John Hinckley Jr.
  • Melissa Huckaby
  • Abd Al Rahim Abdul Rassak Janko
  • Attila József
  • Susanna Kaysen
  • Katherine Knight
  • Todd Kohlhepp
  • Tania Lacy
  • Nat Puff (Left at London)
  • Marsha M. Linehan
  • Luka Magnotta
  • Brandon Marshall
  • Elaine O’Hara
  • Derek Owusu
  • Tas Pappas
  • Kari Ann Peniche
  • Amber Portwood
  • Kenny Richey
  • Danny Rolling
  • Sammy thrashLife
  • Hugo Schwyzer
  • Stuart Shorter
  • Kjartan Slettemark
  • Anna Nicole Smith
  • Ashley Smith inquest
  • Nicola Thorp
  • Tommy Tiernan
  • Joe Tracini
  • Vincent van Gogh
  • Mikey Welsh
  • Danniella Westbrook
  • Ricky Williams
  • Harriet Williamson
  • Aileen Wuornos

Borderline Personality Disorder

Borderline personality disorder is a pervasive mental health problem that is characterized chiefly by the inability to control emotional impulsiveness and having difficult interpersonal relationships.

The fear of abandonment that people with borderline personality disorder often suffer from can make life very difficult for both the patient and the people around them.

Intentional self harm and suicide threats are other significant markers of the borderline personality, and these people may also frequently engage in risk taking behaviors.

The DSM 5 criteria for Borderline personality disorder is as follows:

“BPD is a pervasive pattern of instability in interpersonal relationships, self-image, and emotion, as well as marked impulsivity beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:

  • Chronic feelings of emptiness
  • Emotional instability in reaction to day-to-day events (e.g., intense episodic sadness, irritability, or anxiety usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a few days)
  • Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment
  • Identity disturbance with markedly or persistently unstable self-image or sense of self
  • Impulsive behavior in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging (e.g., spending, sex, 
  • substance abuse, reckless driving, binge-eating)
  • Inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger (e.g., frequent displays of temper, constant anger, recurrent physical fights)
  • Pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by extremes between idealization and devaluation (also known as “splitting”) Recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, or threats, or self-harming behavior Transient, stress-related paranoid ideation or severe dissociative symptoms.”

If you’re facing this, it may be a good idea to seek the help of a therapist or other mental health professional. You can find a therapist at BetterHelp who can help you learn how to cope and address it.

On the other hand, the criteria for borderline personality disorder in the ICD 10 is given under the main heading of Emotionally unstable personality disorder, which also consists of Impulsive personality which may not necessarily have the interpersonal problems and fears of abandonment and so on.

The ICD 10 criteria for Borderline personality disorder are as follows:

“A personality disorder in which there is a marked tendency to act impulsively without consideration of the consequences, together with affective instability. 

The ability to plan ahead may be minimal, and outbursts of intense anger may often lead to violence or “behavioral explosions”; these are easily precipitated when impulsive acts are criticized or thwarted by others.”

“Several of the characteristics of emotional instability are present; in addition, the patient’s own self-image, aims, and internal preferences (including sexual) are often unclear or disturbed. There are usually chronic feelings of emptiness. A liability to become involved in intense and unstable relationships may cause repeated emotional crises and may be

Associated with excessive efforts to avoid abandonment and a series of suicidal threats or acts of self-harm (although these may occur without obvious precipitants).”

Advantages of Borderline Personality Disorder

While there is very little that is good about borderline personality disorder, there are also some advantages of borderline personality disorder, like:

  • Resilience: People with BPD have struggles like drug and alcohol addictions, self-harm, suicidal behavior, and eating disorders, the survivors of this disorder are extremely resilient and tolerant, and they have true strength of character.
  • Empathy and compassion: Individuals who have suffered from BPD have also experienced greater internal and external turmoil, which can sometimes make them very receptive, and this gives them the unique ability to recognize more insight for others in similar situations. They may be capable of sharing stories of their own experiences and they may be able to encourage others to open up.
  • Curiosity: people with borderline personality disorder also tend to be extra sensitive and they may have very fluctuating emotions, but this makes them sense their surroundings with greater curiosity.
  • Bold: The individual with BPD has an impulsive streak that is usually problematic but sometimes makes them bold, courageous and gives them the ability to speak one’s mind.
  • Creative: BPD does not mean that the person does not have talents or skills, and these individuals may often be very talented in terms of creative endeavors and put all their emotional expression into music, art, performance and writing, which may be why so many famous people with BPD make good actors and entertainers.
  • Intuition: People with BPD can also be highly intuitive because they are so attuned to emotions of self and others.
  • Passionate and emotional: Just because they are usually very emotionally reactive does not mean that someone with BPD cannot be capable of liveliness and wittiness, which are qualities that may come through once they have learned to manage their emotions better.

Borderline Personality Disorder Treatment

The treatment for Borderline Personality disorder may involve a combination of medication like mood stabilizers, and psychotherapy.

Borderline personality disorder psychotherapy may involve a combination of different types of therapy, like group therapy and dialectical behavior therapy, or just the one type of therapy like Transference based psychotherapy.

Psychotherapy is the main and best way to treat borderline personality disorder and it gets great results because it mainly focuses more on the disorder than just the symptoms, which is crucial to do in personality disorders because they are so pervasive and deep-set.

The main goals of psychotherapy in borderline personality disorder are:

  • Improving the person’s current ability to function emotionally
  • Teaching the patient to manage their emotions better and in more healthy ways
  • Teaching self-control and reducing risk-taking or harmful behavior, 
  • Teaching the person to watch their feelings rather than acting immediately on them.
  • Teaching them to improve interpersonal relationships 
  • Educating people about borderline personality disorder.

The commonly used types of psychotherapy in borderline personality disorder treatment aim to help them with their emotions and interpersonal relationships.

Dialectical behavior therapy is the main type of psychotherapy in BPD, and it includes both group and individual therapy.

Dialectical behavior therapy was designed specifically to treat borderline personality disorder by Dr Marsha Linehan and there is a corresponding theory for borderline personality disorder given by Dr. Linehan as well. 

DBT tends to be a skills-based approach and it teaches the individual to manage their emotions better.

DBT also enables the person to tolerate their emotional distress better so that they may improve interpersonal relationships.

Schema-focused therapy is another commonly used method of borderline personality disorder treatment, and it can be done either individually or in a group to help the person identify their repressed and unmet needs that are usually what forms their negative schemas.

Negative schemas give rise to intermediate beliefs, which then causes negative automatic thoughts, which is also a primary problem in depression.

Schema focused therapy changes these maladaptive schemas, and this affects the way the person thinks and behaves in the present, and eventually works on changing it.

This therapy allows the person to change their negative thought patterns, and even though these mechanisms may have initially developed as a means of survival, they are causing trouble as an adult, which is why the person may also be willing to change them. 

This therapy allows the person to fulfill their needs in a healthy way and not in the reckless way that people with BPD often might, which then promotes positive life patterns.

Mentalization-based therapy is another type of therapy that helps people with BPD tremendously, and it helps them identify their own thoughts and feelings at any given moment followed by actively choosing to take a different perspective on the situation, which makes the person feel in control but at the same time promotes change. 

The fact that thinking before reacting is a primary lesson in this theory is great for people with BPD, because they have main issues with emotional outbursts and other impulsive problems, which means that something that puts a stop to that is effective.

The last type of psychotherapy for BPD is a type of psychodynamic psychotherapy, and the chief aim of this type is to help the person suffering from borderline personality disorder understand their emotions and interpersonal difficulties by promoting a Platonic relationship between them and their therapist. 

Conclusion

In this brief guide, we looked at a list of famous people with BPD, or Borderline personality disorder, as well as the signs and symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder. 

Borderline personality disorder is hard enough to deal with as it is, but when people with this disorder are famous and have the world watching their every move, it may not be great for their already fragile mental health.

Someone with Borderline Personality disorder struggles with their emotions and feelings and is prone to having outbursts and interpersonal problems, which may make life extremely difficult for famous people with BPD especially, given that the world watching would likely make their situation even worse.

If you have any more questions or comments about Famous people with BPD, please feel free to reach out to us at any time, and if you think that you or someone you know has borderline personality disorder, make sure you try to get the appropriate treatment to make your life better.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): Famous People with BPD

Can someone with BPD be a good parent?

Yes, someone with BPD can be a good parent, and they can quite easily be effective and nurturing as parents, the symptoms of BPD can be very intense which may sometimes lead them to treating their children the way they should not be treated and the children will be damaged because of these tendencies.

Being a good parent may require hard work even for people who do have BPD, which means that someone who does will likely have to work harder at making it work, and they should probably learn the best ways to manage stress and negativity in their life.

Can someone with BPD ever be happy?

Yes, people with BPD can be happy, if they seek the appropriate treatment and are able to find a good support system that is patient enough to stay with them through the problems.

Someone with BPD can have very intense emotions that can last from a few hours to even a few days, and can change very quickly, which may be difficult and get in the way of feeling true happiness, and this is something therapy usually targets.

What medications work best for BPD?

Medications that work best for BPD mostly include mood stabilizers like topiramate (Topamax) and lamotrigine (Lamictal). 

These medications usually work best for BPD because they may also be suffering from comorbid conditions that may require pharmacological treatment.

Citations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:People_with_borderline_personality_disorder

https://www.verywellmind.com/bpd-and-career-choices-425401

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM 5)

International Classification of Mental and Behavioral Disorders (ICD 10)

https://psychologypedia.org/famous-people-with-bpd-borderline-personality-disorder/

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