Men with BPD are more likely to recreationally use substances, have explosive temper, high levels of novelty seeking and have anti-social, narcissistic, passive-aggressive or sadistic personality traits. Women with BPD are more likely to have eating disorders, mood disorders, anxiety and post-traumatic stress. Manipulative behavior
Manipulative behavior to obtain nurturance is considered by the DSM-IV-TR and many mental health professionals to be a defining characteristic of borderline personality disorder. However, Marsha Linehan notes that doing so relies upon the assumption that people with BPD who communicate intense pain, or who engage in self-harm and suicidal behavior, do so with the intention of influencing the behavior of others. The impact of such behavior on others—often an intense emotional reaction in concerned friends, family members, and therapists—is thus assumed to have been the persons intention.However, their frequent expressions of intense pain, self-harming, or suicidal behavior may instead represent a method of mood regulation or an escape mechanism from situations that feel unbearable. Stigma
The features of BPD include emotional instability; intense, unstable interpersonal relationships; a need for intimacy; and a fear of rejection. As a result, people with BPD often evoke intense emotions in those around them. Pejorative terms to describe people with BPD, such as "difficult", "treatment resistant", "manipulative", "demanding", and "attention seeking", are often used and may become a self-fulfilling prophecy, as the negative treatment of these individuals triggers further self-destructive behavior. Physical violence
The stigma surrounding borderline personality disorder includes the belief that people with BPD are prone to violence toward others.
A cycle often begins in which people with BPD feel emotional pain, engage in impulsive behavior to relieve that pain, feel shame and guilt over their actions, feel emotional pain from the shame and guilt, and then experience stronger urges to engage in impulsive behavior to relieve the new pain. As time goes on, impulsive behavior may become an automatic response to emotional pain. Self-harm and suicide
Self-harming or suicidal behavior is one of the core diagnostic criteria in the DSM-5. Self-harm occurs in 50 to 80% of people with BPD. The most frequent method of self-harm is cutting. Bruising, burning, head banging or biting are also common with BPD. People with BPD may feel emotional relief after engaging in self-harm.The estimation of lifetime risk of suicide among people with BPD varied—depending on method of investigation—between 3% and 10%. There is evidence that men diagnosed with BPD are approximately twice as likely to die by suicide as women diagnosed with BPD. There is also evidence that a considerable percentage of men who die by suicide may have undiagnosed BPD.The reported reasons for self-harm differ from the reasons for suicide attempts. Nearly 70% of people with BPD self-harm without trying to end their lives. Reasons for self-harm include expressing anger, self-punishment, generating normal feelings (often in response to dissociation), and distracting oneself from emotional pain or difficult circumstances. In contrast, suicide attempts typically reflect a belief that others will be better off following the suicide. Suicide and self-harm are responses to feeling negative emotions.