Hello!
I have had to deal with growing up in a highly dysfunctional family with a borderline mother at the helm and 2 mentally ill sisters, one is borderline. My father enabled my mother's behavior; he was too fearful to stand up to her and therefore didn't protect us from her emotional and physical abuse. I fell into the role of the family regulator/fixer/pleaser. I am the oldest and strongest and I have been in therapy for most of my life starting in college which helped to give me the strength to only recently set strong boundaries with my mother and sisters, resulting in a very low contact situation now which is minimal texting with them. I also sent them all letters stating I love them but will not participate in unhealthy family dynamics or hurtful behavior towards me. The breaking point was my father's death 8 years ago which unveiled the mental dysfunction of my mother and one sister. I was left to handle my father's estate, the selling of his home and the funeral alone. My husband almost died in surgery a month later. Completely alone without any support from my mom or sisters, complete silence.... This silence woke me up and uncovered the truth of my family. I continue to hold my boundaries through their tricks, and schemes to get me back into the role of the family regulator and golden child. I am now the scapegoat which is very uncomfortable but tolerable because I now value my own mental health and my family I have created as the main priority over meeting my mother's and sister's needs. But as my mother ages I worry about her death, how my sisters will lash out at me and blame me for hurting her and how I will feel after she dies? Will I have guilt and regret? I invited my mom to a therapy session but afterwards she told me we just need to put the past behind us and didn't ask to continue. I also stated that I am willing to go to family therapy, but she hasn't followed through. I already have chronic guilt that ebbs and flows. I now understand the guilt is because of my conditioning to please my mother and sisters at my expense, which started as a very young child. The boundaries I have set have allowed me to feel calmer and more grounded in my life than I ever have in my life. My life is very peaceful and happy as I focus on my husband, children, a small group of healthy friends I have in my life and my career. However, I feel very alone and guilty at times and struggle to feel validated in a world that doesn't understand the complexities of my experience. The choice I have made is to turn away from my family of origin to be healthy, but the cost is the chronic guilt, which can feel like a high price to pay at times, causing me to rethink my choices and consider reaching out to contact my mom and ask if we can work things out..... any thoughts or guidance is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Hi again,

I'm so glad you were able to talk to your son and remain calm, even if he was going down a negative thinking spiral.  I really think it's best if you remain calm when you talk with him, in the hopes that your calmness will rub off on him.  If you're available to him and stay calm, I think he'll appreciate that.  But if he turns it into a bashing session, and you're starting to feel anxious, then you can calmly extricate yourself (Gotta run, talk to you later, bye). 

It seems to me that he's figuring out what his issues are--he feels lonely.  It's remarkable that he's that open with you.  And yet, it's completely normal to feel lonely from time to time.  My guess is he wants a girlfriend?  Or maybe he needs some buddies to hang out with?  That's typical for someone his age, especially these days when young people spend so much time with screens at home.  It might have seemed easier to make friends in high school and college, with the repeated, low-stakes interactions with peers, which is key to forming friendships in my opinion.  Without that sort of set-up in adult life, making (and keeping) friends can seem challenging.  Moreover, he's probably plagued with a negative self-perception.

But here's the thing.  The pwBPD in my life felt the same way.  She lost her friends because she was too needy, negative and a total *itch to them.  But there are millions of other potential friends out there, right?  I think her main problem was that she was way too passive.  She thought and thought about how lonely she was, and she expected friends to come to her, to apologize for whatever grievance she felt she had against them.  She wanted to be invited to parties.  She wanted to be asked out.  But she didn't really figure out that she needed to take ACTION.  My opinion is that the best way to reduce anxiety is to think less and DO more.  Does your son want to meet more women?  Then he needs to start going where they are.  I'm not talking about bars, where interactions seem too superficial and transactional.  One idea is to go to a gym regularly.  Eventually he'll be around some like-minded (sporty) people, and familiarity breeds friendship.  He could consider joining a class--boxing, HIIT, yoga, spinning, whatever suits him.  It doesn't matter if he's not "good" at it . . . it's probably better if he's not!  Then people will probably try to help him, and they'll admire him for trying something new!  Everyone can relate to learning something new! 

Now, how to encourage your son to "get out there"?  I'd recommend refraining from giving direct advice, unless he asks for it.  But if he says, "I'm lonely," you could say, "It must get you down to feel lonely, what do you think you could do to address that?"  See what he says.  If he gets agitated and goes down a negative thinking spiral, then he's not receptive to ideas.  But if he sticks to the present ("I don't know, I can't seem to meet anybody"), that's when you could say something like this:  "Yeah, when I moved to a new area and was working all the time, it was hard at first to make friends.  But I started scheduling some activities in my calendar, to have experiences to look forward to, and eventually I made a friend or two.  What do you think might be fun?"  Since he's negative, he might not be very creative, but you could nudge him a little bit:  A classic car show?  A concert?  Hosting a BBQ/cocktails in your apartment block?  Volunteering at the pet shelter?  Joining a running club?  Going to see a friend's band play?  The key is to get out and be with people on a regular basis, ideally in a situation with regular, repeated, lower-stakes interactions, as simple as taking a dog to the park every morning at 7 am.  Even if he does things alone, when people ask, "Are you doing anything fun this weekend?" he'll have a good answer for that!

The thing that I've noticed with the pwBPD in my life, she's just not very "creative" when it comes to making a life for herself.  She seems to have no idea about all the cool things there are to do in her area, let alone the volunteer opportunities and such.  I think she really needed a nudge or two to help her find neat things to do, to help bolster her "identity," when she was in a receptive mood.  One thing I did was help her find a volunteer opportunity in her field of interest (art), which was right up her alley, and which also helped her build out her art portfolio.  Now I didn't get involved in the application process or anything, it was more like, "I saw this opportunity and though it might be of interest to you," and forwarded her a link to the "volunteers needed" webpage.  I'm delighted to say that she followed up and volunteered with the organization for a time.  I'm just saying that she needed a little nudge, because she just doesn't know about this sort of thing, let alone how to find opportunities like that. 

Does that make any sense?

There are two things that I noticed about your post. One is the young lady with BPD and the other is your ages.

Please understand that I don't discount teen relationships- they matter- but also age is a factor in relationships, in terms of emotional growth. Most teens aren't emotionally or financially ready to settle down for the long run and that is OK. So while addressing what she's done-it's also good to think- "what can I learn from this" for yourself.

BPD is a mental illness, not a temporary issue someone has. An aspect of BPD is emotional immaturity. What you saw was that this person was one way on line, and then completely different in person. She was able to form a sort of "fantasy" relationship with you at a distance- but in person, not able to manage any kind of closeness. While there's also BPD involved- being able to have a relationship at a distance can also be a stage for a young teen. I have seen it written that young teens have "crushes" on rock stars, before they have the emotional maturity to have a relationship in person, as the star is at a safe - likely impossible-distance. There's no relational emotional expectations from a person far away, or online. How she acted was not about you, but that she wasn't emotionally ready to have that kind of relationship in person.

Teens can also have changing emotions. Sometimes they think they are interested in someone, and then change their minds. Relationships might be short. This is age appropriate for a very young teen. What's confusing is when someone has BPD, they may be chronologically older, but still emotionally, acting younger.

Due to teen development, age gaps can be much larger at this age. A three year age gap is minimal for an older adult but for a teen- each year represents a lot of growth. So she may be a little younger than you but that gap, in addition to BPD, may be much larger emotionally.

From your post, I think what happened was confusing to you, but not about you. She may not be emotionally ready for an in person relationship. When and if she will be, one doesn't know that.

For your situation- you seem like a mature and empathetic person- and so are ahead in your readiness for a relationship. However, being a teen still, I don't think you are looking to settle down yet. Relationships for you are sincere- but not likely forever, at least not now. What can you learn from this one that will help you in future relationships, one that may one day be for the long run?

First, trust your gut and pay attention to how you feel around a person you are interested in. Do you feel confused or stressed. How does this person behave with you, not only in fun easy times, but if there are any challenges? How do the two of you match up in emotional maturity, values? Are they straightforward with you?

Also pay attention to your feelings of needing to be there for the person, help the person, even somehow fix them. The best person for you is someone who is a partner to you, not someone you need to rescue. There's a difference between being mutually supportive and rescuing.

Enjoy your time being single. Seems you have a lot going for you, playing in a band, and also there's likely career goals ahead of you. You aren't obligated to be in a rescuing position to someone you are interested in. Rescuing is different than helping a friend, being a support person during a difficult time as a friend to someone who is usually stable but going through a rough patch. You have your own emotional and career growth to focus on. That doesn't mean to be cold hearted or not care for other people, but you can choose who to be close to, and where your time and energy goes too.

You've decided this isn't something you wish to continue and you can decide this. Trust you gut here.

Hello. I'm in love with a woman. We dated in highschool and things ended. It wasn't a crazy ending or anything we just grew apart it was a short and sweet relationship. Well fast forward to the present (16 years later and 5 months ago) she came back into my Life. And like a hurricane it was new, exciting, beautiful I was completely smitten. I fell in love fast. This woman is super intelligent, funny, smart, kind, I could go on for hours about the reasons I fell in love with her. But here we are five months later. I am so sure of our relationship and that scares her or makes her uncomfortable I'm not sure which. And sometimes she returns that sentiment and then others she doesn't. She can never make her mind up and always seems so unsure (not just with our relationship). Well we broke up 2 months ago. And I couldn't just let her go. We talked and eventually we reconciled. And some not so great stuff has happened since. And I feel like part of her was acting out just to try to push me away. But we worked through it and are trying to be together again. But those ideas, those feelings of uncertainty still plague her. I support her and go into every scenario with patience and understanding. But truthfully I'm exhausted. I'm so tired of feeling like this. Feeling defeated, feeling like I'm never the choice, the feeling of instability. I love her dearly and just want us to be happy and healthy but her indecision is weighing on me greatly. I don't know why I have decided to post on here. Maybe I'm looking for advice. Maybe I'm hoping someone in the same scenario has some kind words or maybe the ability to help. I don't know. But I do know I love and accept her and don't want to give up on us. Send help!

Hi AlwaysAnxious
You say

 but how do I put my worry aside when my petite daughter is walking alone through the streets at midnight. (I feel how dumb this question is but it's what I feel at the time).

I don't think this is a dumb question at all!

I have to say, in this situation I would feel exactly the same, no matter how my head was saying things like 'she has chosen' etc. It is objectively a dangerous thing to be happening and I think you are responding in a very normal way ie raised anxiety due to dangerous situation.

The key issue here I think is that this is happening at night. It is the case that for some people the evenings/nights are the time when they are most restless, depressed or anxious. One lady locally - no BPD - would pop her young daughter in the car and drive for a couple of hours just to cope with her restlessness and anxiety.

Another person I know finds thoughts of suicide come in the evening and he is exhausted trying to combat this urge at this time of day. The circadian rhythm and cortisol levels can all play a part especially when a person with BPD would have high stress levels throughout the day.

It's good that your DD feels she has BPD. I am wondering if there could be a moment in time when you bring up to her that the evening seems to be a bad time for her stress level and distress. Finding the right words is tricky. You have made a lot of progress and I wonder if naming the pattern might be another step forward, followed by trying to get DD to acknowledge this pattern.

There are several over the counter products such as Sleep Well that are basically an antihistamine product that can aid relaxation towards getting to sleep. There might be other options - I'm sure there would be.

At the moment it seems that the effect of the evening period operates to heighten DD"s anxiety and probably feelings of abandonment. If she can acknowledge the pattern it could be a step forward into exploring options.

Also I notice your DD is 27. Keep in mind what a paediatric psychiatrist told me ie that BPD symptoms can lessen in the 4th decade ie between 30 and 40. It sounds as though your DD is quite high functioning and if you are able to keep going, keep looking for moments to help her get support for the condition, these symptoms may well lessen in the years to come.

You are an amazing parent!

Hi and welcome to the site; you're in good company as we've all experienced the same thing in our relationships.

From what you've written, it would seem that she is exhibiting a lot of the standard BPD characteristics. They can vary in intensity in each case but they all have the same basic symptoms, such as blowing hot and cold all the time, being insecure and not knowing what they want from moment to moment,

If you've read the many posts on here you'll have seen how things invariably go, Sadly, they don't tend to improve - even though we'd like them to and see ourselves as 'the one who will save them'. They follow a self-destructive, repeating cycle.

She does seem to have some knowledge of her actions though, when you say she was worried about pushing you away like she's done to others in the past. Most BPD's usually try to reverse the story and claim that every previous partner was bad to them and they were the innocent ones.

It's still early days in your relationship so the basic question would be are you prepared to continue, knowing that things could get worse? We've all persevered in our BPD relationship and probably put more far more effort into it than we've ever done, but the outcome sadly doesn't improve and we end up in the cycle of being the white night one minute and the black villain the next.

You seem quite prepared to end things and, hard though it is, it may be the best option and save you a lot of grief in future. The longer you're enmeshed the harder it is to break free - I certainly wish I'd walked away much earlier than I did as it would have spared me years of heartache and frustration, trying to fight a battle I could never win.

Only you can decide how far you're willing to go, or not go. Feel free to give us more details or just write to get it out of your system. We all know exactly what you're going through.

Best wishes.

Thank you again. I have truly come to the right.place. your words are so encouraging.   I had a successful call with him and I think it's it's helpful "talking" this out. I was able to say calm and not react to his tone and then he said he felt so lonely. He said he wants to keep working on it. I know tomorrow could be back to square one but I'm feeling hopeful.

Hi all,

I've recently had my relationship end with my ex partner who has BPD, about a month ago, and it's been quite difficult to move through that, deciding whether to move on or not.

To provide context, my now-ex had a stalker situation escalate, and it made them feel unsafe to be around someone of the opposite gender like myself, meaning they no longer had capacity to be in a relationship anymore, and needed to focus on themselves to improve things in their life.

The hard part for me is that they clarified I had done nothing wrong, and that we both loved each other an incredible amount, but couldn't be together right now. Leading up to this, there was clear evidence that a "split" was potentially on the cards, noticing a shift in their behaviour and being harder to reach, which was difficult for me to navigate.

When we broke up, and had a couple of weeks before saying a last goodbye, I let them know I was going to move forward and not put my life on hold, but leave the door open for them to contact me. Last year, they did something similar within a few weeks of us dating, and they were too scared about contacting me because they didn't know if I would be there. I guess now I'm hoping after a 6-7 month relationship, that the likelihood of that happening and there being more confidence in reaching out will be there, given we both spoke about believing in serendipity and if it will be, it will be, and also that there's clear evidence that we could have a really excellent relationship together.

I guess my struggle at the moment with moving on is the idea of not waiting, but still thinking about them, and ultimately wanting to get back with them when they're able to. These feelings are particularly intense today because it's their birthday and I did leave them with a birthday card that celebrated them, but also let them know how nice our time was together and that I would always be there. I don't know if they've read that card today, another day, or it's been thrown out. I guess I'm not sure how to go about wanting to try and resume this relationship, because I'd like to think I've found my person and I think they feel the same, with us both professing that it's the most we've loved anyone before.

I just don't know whether to reach out, if that'll make it worse, when to reach out, let her come to me - I just don't know and I don't know if I should be fighting for it, or let them fight for it first.

We're both young, I'm older but we are still late teens. I'll just try and summarise what I can.

I messaged her on social media as mutuals, and was making intentions clear with a pick-up line, we talked for the whole night and we seemed to connect better than anyone else I've met in long time. She was obsessed, and unfortunately I reciprocated instead of drawing a boundary where it was immediately roleplaying almost as partners, fantasising a lot, rather than gradual connection.

This was a month ago, first week rolls around, she's dying to see me, tells me how she can't wait to kiss me and just spend time together, first date - she breaks all my plans and takes me somewhere else despite knowing I had things planned. The introduction was off too, she refused to hold hands and was distant immediately, of course that is okay, it's just the opposite of how she seemed to hype up the entire situation. For our entire date, she had been distant physically, basically mean-girl teasing and being outwardly the complete opposite to her online 'persona', being purposefully gross, lying, saying how horrible she was, it was extremely weird even with comments about her defecating herself...Despite this certain things were broken in such as her saying she's never been treated with such care and kindness by someone, someone else being genuinely this interested in her and for herself - referring to me, even thinking I was some joke or prank by her friends setup to embarrass her, that nothing about me could have been real. When I asked if anything she said was then real, she got nervous and muttered between yes and no incoherently. It wasn't until the end I just let go of caring and treated her with the same wild energy where we both enjoyed ourselves on the walk back, but even saying goodbye, it was just coldness and her freezing at a hug and saying nothing.

I decided to just leave messaging as I was bummed out but she messaged me after extremely upset by me not messaging and apologising for not giving me a hug and being nervous etc, and when I confronted the issue gently at hand she exposed she just is worried due to treating others badly in relationships and essentially it came across as her pushing me away before she could hurt me. We set boundaries in taking it slow and getting to know each other first before developing our feelings truly, and it was great from there.

Week after, we promise and plan to do a date, however she seemed to be upset at this time, so I gave her space that I asked if she needed and let it go, just being supportive.

The next week I had a really big live show, performing music with my band, I invite her - she is up to it and thirty minutes before I'm on she bails on me for her male bestie to hangout only a few minutes away, again I just can't be bothered so go enjoy myself, pattern repeats in her apologising and seeming to be self aware this was wrong of her.

Final week, multiple times we rescheduled this date and she blew me off without warning each time or just had an excuse, such as having a sleepover with this same friend. You can imagine by the end with me being supportive, caring and trying to be healthy with boundaries and expectations I started pulling away emotionally a little, just as she was. I was losing interest, with the same patterns repeating and feeling only used, despite this she still would say she missed me, and plan future activities or things we could do - setting it up to be almost future couple thing, again similarly to her likes, reposts and what she shared to myself, everything was still looking to be that way.

She got kicked out of her house the other day, I was being supportive but again, less interested and burned out. She didn't really seem to care much but she's safe now. Today I was planning on just sending a short message communicating some feelings of wanting to make it work, with communication being needed, and I'm losing interest because of this.

But ironically I see she has blocked me on our main app without warning.

Does she just not care anymore? Initially a lot of behaviour made me think she was truly trying, I understand it can be hard for her and maybe it was more to do with guilt however by the end it just feels like she couldn't care less and wanted something strictly online. I can't even tell myself it's about me, I was supportive and loving, did everything I could - I am self-aware I'm very wanted by others, and as she said, she couldn't even believe I was real for many reasons. I just don't know if I should expect more from this discard from her, I've taken her off other social media, I'm not that upset as I had expectations from her warnings, It's just disappointing, I really want to help and be there for her, make this work, but it feels like she doesn't want that to happen and I don't want that being forced.

Having to go NC with close family members because of their hurtful behaviors can often be a life long sorrow. Perhaps doing the scrapbook has brought up some sadness and  longing to have a normal healthy loving family. Contacting members you are NC or low contact with because of how badly they have treated you will likely open the door for some more mistreatment. The silent treatment and lack of appreciation for receiving the scrapbook can be a form of abuse.