Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Exam 2025 – 400 Free Practice Questions to Pass the Exam

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is primarily characterized by emotional instability and impulsivity. Individuals with BPD often experience intense and rapidly changing emotions, leading to difficulties in regulating their feelings. This emotional volatility can manifest in various ways, such as mood swings, feelings of emptiness, and intense anger, often in response to perceived interpersonal threats.

Impulsivity is another critical feature of BPD, which can lead to risk-taking behaviors in areas such as spending, sexual activity, substance abuse, or self-injury. These impulsive actions can be efforts to cope with the emotional pain or to seek relief from feelings of abandonment or distress.

High sociability and extroversion, severe detachment from reality, and obsessive attention to detail represent characteristics more relevant to other mental health disorders. For example, traits associated with high sociability and extroversion are more commonly seen in personality types or conditions that emphasize social engagement rather than the emotional and interpersonal struggles found in BPD. Detachment from reality is more characteristic of psychotic disorders, while obsessive attention to detail is often a hallmark of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Thus, emotional instability and impulsivity distinctly define the behavioral patterns observed in individuals with borderline personality disorder.