Borderline Personality Disorder Hotline
⚠ SAFETY NOTICE
If you or someone you love is in immediate danger, call 911.
If you’re having thoughts of suicide or are in emotional crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
The Mental Health Hotline offers support and resources and is not a substitute for emergency services.
If you feel that you are struggling with borderline personality disorder, you don’t have to struggle alone. You can call the Mental Health Hotline at 866-903-3787 to get connected with borderline personality disorder support and mental health resources.
Mental health disorders are common and nothing to be ashamed about. In fact, 1.4 percent of American adults live with borderline personality disorder (BPD), and nearly 75% of those in treatment are women. People with BPD are often living in constant, deep emotional pain — trying hard to bury it beneath the surface as they get on with life. Fear, anger, guilt, shame and sadness might feel like your default emotions, but once you learn your triggers and start managing BPD, you can live more fully and without shame.
Treatment from a mental health provider gradually teaches you strategies and practices to help you regulate your emotions. However, taking that first step can be the hardest part, especially for someone who’s spent their life masking symptoms and trying their best to put on a brave face. A BPD hotline bridges that gap and helps you find the path to recovery in a safe and confidential way.
How Can You Benefit From a Call to a Borderline Personality Disorder Hotline?
A call to a BPD hotline is the first encounter with a mental health support service for many callers who go on to receive effective treatment. Benefits include:
- Anonymity. It’s difficult to disclose our health struggles sometimes because of fear of discrimination and stigma. Calling a BPD hotline can be your first safe action in caring for your mental health. There’s no obligation and you get free information. Every caller is entitled to confidential assistance.
- Empathetic support. You’ll be in touch with someone who understands how to navigate the mental health support system in your region. They listen to your struggles to better serve your needs by guiding you to the right care.
- Call when you want. It’s an act of bravery on your part to call a BPD hotline. You can get in touch at your convenience, and you can end the call when you want. There’s no pressure, and you can reach out from the comfort of home.
You don’t have to have BPD to call. You might prefer to have a friend or family member call on your behalf. Getting as much support as you can from numerous resources enhances your ability to manage personal mental health.
What Causes Borderline Personality Disorder?
A mental health issue isn’t something you’ve chosen or are doing to yourself. There are certain factors contributing to BPD, including biological and environmental causes that might have roots in early childhood, adolescence, or adulthood. They include:
- Abuse or neglect
- Genetic history of BPD
- Abnormalities in the brain regions that regulate emotions
- A highly sensitive temperament (this is impacted deeply by your genetics)
People with BPD often have concurrent mental health problems, including substance abuse, depression and anxiety. While drugs and alcohol may provide temporary relief, they ultimately make it even harder to regulate your emotions. But help is available. No matter how complicated your situation is or how hopeless you feel, treatment can help you heal and find peace.
If trauma is part of your story, our helplines for sexual abuse survivors offer specialized support.
What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder?
You may not have a diagnosis of BPD yet, and even if you do, you may find relief knowing that your discomfort stems from the symptoms of BPD. These telltale signals may indicate you have the disorder and could benefit from support.
Signs and symptoms of BPD include:
- Emotional dysregulation — unlike bipolar disorder, moods shift quickly and episodes are often triggered by fear of abandonment or rejection
- Black-and-white thinking, where a person thinks in terms of all good or all bad
- Self-hatred
- Difficulties with close personal relationships
- Unstable sense of identity leading to shifting beliefs or persona
- Impulsiveness and engaging in reckless behaviors including spending sprees, unsafe sex, binge-eating
- Self-harm
- Suicidal ideation
- Intense feelings of anger, sadness or fear
- Feeling detached from reality
The intensity and duration of BPD symptoms vary. Not everyone with BPD experiences every symptom, but the disorder can severely impact functioning. Just know that help and treatment are available to help you live healthier and happier.
Our guide to getting diagnosed with BPD walks through what comes next.
Types of BPD
Researchers haven’t established formal subtypes of BPD in the DSM, but psychologist Theodore Millon described four patterns that often show up in clinical practice. People rarely fit neatly into one. Most have features of several:
- Impulsive BPD. People with this pattern may be high-energy, charismatic and prone to thrill-seeking or risky behavior. The emotional dysregulation often shows up as recklessness rather than withdrawal.
- Discouraged (or “quiet”) BPD. The intensity turns inward, with self-criticism, dependence on others and withdrawal rather than outward conflict. This pattern is often missed in clinical settings because the suffering is internalized.
- Petulant BPD. This pattern may involve deep frustration, irritability and a back-and-forth between wanting closeness and pushing it away.
- Self-destructive BPD. Self-harm, substance use or risk-taking may become the way pain gets expressed. Suicidal thoughts may be more common.
These patterns are descriptive, not diagnostic. They’re useful as a way to recognize how BPD can look different from one person to the next.
What Treatments Help With Borderline Personality Disorder?
Treatments for BPD are recommended and prescribed by regulated medical providers. The majority of people benefit from psychotherapy, also known as talk therapy. There are two main types of talk therapy recommended for treating BPD:
- Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). The main focus of this therapy is mindfulness and self-awareness. It was developed specifically for people with BPD. With dedicated practice, you can improve your relationships, reduce self-harm thoughts and actions, and regulate intense emotions.
- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Change core beliefs and negative behaviors by identifying the inaccurate perceptions hindering your relationship to yourself and others. You may see a reduction in the intensity of mood swings, anxiety and suicidal thoughts.
A minority of the people diagnosed with BPD benefit from prescribed medications. The medicines are usually given for other mental health issues that co-occur with BPD, such as major depressive disorder.
Left untreated, BPD symptoms can intensify. Our guide to untreated BPD explains why getting support early matters.
BPD Resources and Support
You and your family can get support and guidance from various mental health organizations, including those below.
Frequently Asked Questions About BPD
Yes. This is one of the most encouraging findings in BPD research. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, one 2014 study found that 77% of participants no longer met criteria for BPD after completing dialectical behavior therapy. With treatment, meaningful improvement is realistic for many people.
Both involve mood instability, but the patterns differ. BPD mood shifts last hours and are usually reactive to things that happen with other people. Bipolar episodes last days to weeks and follow internal cycles less tied to specific triggers. The two are sometimes mistaken for each other; a careful evaluation helps sort it out.
You’re not alone in asking. Validation, consistent boundaries, and your own support system all matter. Our guide to helping someone with BPD walks through what tends to help and what tends to backfire.
The answer is more nuanced than older figures suggest. Clinical samples skew female, but population studies find roughly equal rates in men and women. The gap likely reflects diagnostic bias and differences in help-seeking, not actual prevalence.
Support Is Available
Living with borderline personality disorder can feel overwhelming, but you don’t have to manage it on your own. With the right support, you can learn your triggers, regulate intense emotions, and move toward a steadier, more stable life.
You’re invited to get help for BPD by calling the Mental Health Hotline at 866-903-3787.