Borderline personality disorder symptoms are different for men and women

As I was doing my morning google searches, I came across this article.

It states that according to two American Universities( University of Minnesota and Harvard affiliated researchers) BPD symptoms can be different for men and women.

The article also talks about the associated mental conditions:

“Very few people with borderline personality disorder are unaffected by other diagnosable mental health problems, the National Alliance on Mental Illness notes. Roughly 70 percent of all individuals with BPD have a form of relatively mild or moderate depression known as persistent depressive disorder or dysthymia. In addition, roughly 60 percent of all individuals with the disorder have symptoms of the more severe form of depression known as major depression. Other mental illnesses found in a substantial minority of BPD-affected people include substance use disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, eating disorders (binge-eating disorder, anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa) and bipolar disorder.”

BPD symptoms manifest differently for men and women. According to a study conducted on 770 adults (men and women) published in the Journal of Personality Disorders. It states:

“(…)The researchers concluded that women commonly develop BPD symptoms that differ substantially from the symptoms commonly found in men. Examples of the distinguishing characteristics of the disorder in women include a higher overall number of symptoms, a greater tendency toward depression-related and anxiety-related symptoms, more severe disruptions in the ability to maintain stable relationships with others and a rate of eating disorder exposure that’s even higher than the rate found among women in general. Conversely, men with BPD have meaningfully higher chances than women of developing the symptoms of antisocial personality disorder, as well as somewhat greater risks for the development of narcissistic personality disorder.

Interestingly, the researchers also concluded that some gender-related differences in mental health found in the general population do not tend to occur among men and women affected by borderline personality disorder. Examples of normally gender-centric problems that occur roughly equally in men and women with BPD include panic disorder, substance use disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and suicide. In addition, men and women with BPD have unusually small gender gaps for two other conditions: post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depression.”

Furthermore, BPD is more common in women than in men: “Women are diagnosed with the disorder about 200 percent more often than men, although men may actually have substantially higher chances of developing BPD than this statistic indicates.”

Source: https://www.borderline-personality-disorder.com/borderline-personality-disorder-research/borderline-personality-disorder-symptoms-differ-for-men-and-women/

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