Definition of borderline personality disorder
: a disordered behavior pattern that has an onset during adolescence or early adulthood and that is marked by unstable, intense emotions and mood with symptoms including instability in interpersonal relationships and self-image, fears of abandonment, and impulsive or unpredictable behavior
- Like others with borderline personality disorder, she had intense and unstable relationships with people that veered from adoration to intense hatred and jealousy the moment she felt the merest slight.
- —Richard A. Friedman
- Borderline personality disorder afflicts an estimated 1.3 percent of U.S. adults.
- —Bruce Bower
