To continue with the profile of BPD, I'd like to point out that regardless of gender, the behavior of a patient with this disorder is typically unpredictable. A person suffering from this illness has a quite fragile sense of self. A patient with BPD, for example, may express his undying loyalty to and extreme admiration- of a person at first, but then soon become convinced that the same individual is a horrible person who is against him. Often this emotional state is characterized by feelings of dejection, dissatisfaction with life or self. Here we see similarities with major depression and anxiety disorders.
Dysphoria can often look a lot like a panic attack.
When a person suffers from this dysphoric state. Because I consider this disorder from the research perspective, my diagnostic criteria is quite rigid, and so I don't classify a person as having BPD unless they engage in self-mutilation. Over the course of my research and my exposure to people who use self-mutilation as a mechanism to relieve dysphoria, I have come to believe that it is more often a genuine attempt to relieve extreme emotional pain. People with BPD are often very relieved to find that someone actually believes that they are really suffering rather than just acting manipulative. That brings up the issue of the particular stigma attached to this illness.