[We have to make sure we stay away from the "all" thoughts, everyone is different.
There are many people who have trouble sleeping that are not BPD!
[snip]
These threads pop up quite often where we search for commonalities.
I think it's clear that a pwBPD is full of anxiety, but I think a good portion of the population is full of anxiety. It's the society we live in!
These are valid and important points, but on the other hand, if we look at the DSM-5 new criteria, Anxiety is a core trait of BPD; BPD via the DSM-5 includes this (among other things of course):
"Anxiousness: Intense feelings of nervousness, tenseness, or panic, often in reaction to interpersonal stresses; worry about the negative effects of past unpleasant experiences and future negative possibilities; feeling fearful, apprehensive, or threatened by uncertainty; fears of falling apart or losing control."
https://bpdfamily.com/message_board/index.php?topic=114843.0And I've seen research linking this anxiousness to biochemical changes (ie., raised anxiety hormones) that are persistent. In other words, it may be that this trait isn't just included in the DSM-5 to say that they think themselves into an anxious state when they get triggered, but rather that they start anxious and that affects their threshold for triggering, and also affects how they think in the same way that anyone thinks differently when anxious.
So it's possible that the state of anxiety is directly involved in a lot of BPD actions, decisions, and capabilities, and being aware of this might help us be with them (and detach from them).
PP