Borderline

Personality
Disorder in Film
ALEX KNIGHT

Thesis
Films depicting characters with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) can
help doctors recognize and diagnose patients with BPD

What is BPD?
In general, feel emotions more intensely
Huge mood swings
Unstable relationships
Includes an intense fear of abandonment

Extremely poor self-image

Self-harm and/or suicidal threats, especially when in afraid of being abandoned

Impulsive behavior
Ex. Binge drinking/eating, drug abuse, unsafe sex, gambling, etc.

Causes not fully understood, likely mix of genetics and environment

Often confused with Antisocial Personality Disorder or Major Deppresion

Use of Film to Diagnose BPD

In 1997 Dr. Steven E. Hyler wrote in the Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic on
using film to teach students about BPD and listed 33 films that may be useful
in teaching different parts of the disorder
Often use videos of real patients
Privacy concerns

Different films provide better examples of different aspects of BPD

Characters with BPD in film are more often women
Men tend to exhibit more antisocial behavior
Character stereotypes

Films
From Dr. Hylers list:
Goodfellas
Tommy DeVito

Misery
Annie Wilkes

What about Bob?

Bob

Streetcar Named Desire

Blanche DuBois

Others:
Girl, Interrupted
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Fatal Attraction
Released in 1987
Dr. Hyler mentions as the most complete view of
BPD in film
Story of a man (Dan) who has an affair with a
woman (Alex) while his wife and daughter are
away
Alex grows overly attached to Dan and when he
tries to leave she harms herself
Alex then begins stalking Dan, calling his office
incessantly and eventually coming to his home
under the guise of being interested in buying it
Nominated for 6 Oscars, including Best Picture
and Glenn Close for her portrayal of Alex

Reaction
Many suffers of BPD say Fatal Attraction puts BPD in too negative of a light
Unrealistic
Misleading
Extreme

Others say they dont identify with Alex

Film may be useful for student doctors to help recognize behavior patterns of
those with BPD, but they most realize that film is dramatized and depictions
of BPD are generally over-the-top

Sources
Hyler, Steven E. "Using Commercially Available Films To Teach About
Borderline Personality Disorder."Bulletin Of The Menninger Clinic61.4 (1997):
458.Academic Search Premier. Web. 27 Apr. 2016.
"Borderline Personality Disorder."Diseases and Conditions Borderline
Personality Disorder. Mayo Clinic, n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2016.
Allen, David M. "Borderline Personality Disorder in the Movies."Psychology
Today. Psychology Today, 22 July 2013. Web. 27 Apr. 2016.
Schlozman, Steven. "Kristen Wiig's "Welcome To Me" And Borderline
Personality Disorder The MGH Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds. The
MGH Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds, 27 May 2015. Web. 27 Apr. 2016.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_featuring_mental_disorders#Borderline_person
ality_disorder