What is the "Fear of Abandonment" Associated with Borderline Personality Disorder?

Описание: This video describes the fear of abandonment we see associated with borderline personality disorder. When we look at the definition of borderline personality disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual the DSM, we see that there are nine criteria at least five have to be met for a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. Criterion one states “frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment,” and that's what we're referring to here when we say fear of abandonment. Fear of abandonment is sometimes referred to as autophobia, however, autophobia technically is a fear of being alone. Most of the time we think of these as the same thing, but technically they're not synonymous. It's also important remember that a fear of abandonment is not technically required for diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. There are nine symptom criteria and only five are required. None of the symptom criteria are mandatory. Usually with borderline personality disorder, we do see that this criterion is endorsed. The fear of abandonment can also stand alone or be related to another disorder. Somebody could just simply have a fear of being abandoned or it could be a symptom of dependent personality disorder or separation anxiety disorder. It doesn't necessarily have to be related to borderline personality disorder. We think of this fear of abandonment as being a cornerstone to borderline personality disorder and being connected to the other symptoms in many cases. This fear of abandonment is often related to a romantic partner, but it doesn't have to be. It can also be a friend, a member of the family, and it can even be a mental health clinician. This fear of abandonment can be triggered by any number of circumstances, for example: actual abandonment, rejection, the cancelling of plans, and being late.
These frantic efforts can contribute to or lead to the other symptoms we see in the definition for borderline personality disorder. This is one symptom and there are eight other criteria. In clinical presentations, we often see these frantic efforts most directly related to the unstable intense relationship pattern, impulsivity in ways that can be potentially self damaging, suicidal behavior, affective instability, anger, and paranoid ideation. So that only leaves two other symptom criteria: identity disturbance and a feeling of emptiness. Sometimes we see these frantic efforts tied to those symptom criteria as well. It's not uncommon to see these efforts in a form that really aren't read directly related to the symptoms of borderline personality like stalking, calling excessively, or texting excessively. These frantic efforts are a form a self-fulfilling prophecy. An individual with borderline personality disorder that meets the symptom criterion will often drive romantic interest or friends or family away because of this intense fear of abandonment. This fear of abandonment can lead to a cycle that's distressing and results in a number of symptoms and functional impairment.