u/AntiqueSignpost

Hey guys. I'm Not a therapist or psychiatrist in any way. I'm recently diagnosed with BPD and I am posting here because I have alot of questions and cannot currently afford therapy yet. Please note I am aware that this post may have alot of misinformation, I am not here to perpetuate misinformation but to just show what my uneducated searchings online has yielded, and am looking for correction on anything I've gotten wrong, and more explanations from people who have clinical experience and qualifications.

I understand fully that the original term of BPD being on the border of psychosis and neurosis is outdated. Especially that the term neurosis is particularly outdated.

But I kind of think the term fits well as being on the border of psychosis. I'm curious to know thoughts from experts.

To be clear about something to start: while some people with BPD say they do experience things like hallucinations, voices etc. I do not.

I posted on r/bpd on this post here about this but keep in mind this was 2 weeks ago and I've since then explored it further.

One big aspect of the post was that I was struggling to understand what "being out of touch with reality" meant, because everyone experiences cognitive distortion. For example we all have times where we assume someone is angry with us when they aren't, or people believe in things that aren't true like flat earth. One commenter said that my splitting is NOT psychosis because even if in reality the person isn't abandoning me, my fears about it are still based on real past experiences that have happened. Whereas psychosis wouldn't be founded on that. a large percentage of people ghost me and block me, I do have autism, and of course BPD, so it makes sense that sometimes when people are not replying, I am experiencing being ghosted/blocked in reality.

According to what Claude told me - and please correct me if I'm wrong which is why I'm posting here as I know AI can give misinformation - the prefrontal cortex gets affected and goes, as it said "offline" temporarily. Therefore one is unable to check reality during the split.

In terms of how it FEELS to me, the paranoia I feel seems very out of touch with reality at times. On the other hand, it is due to past trauma so I feel like it also manifests as hypervigilance? I mean, if someone has been assaulted they might fear that happening all the time even when it's not happening again. So is BPD like that? or is it more a quasi-psychosis of breaking from reality temporarily during a split?

This is what claude said after a long discussion with it:

"But the phenomenology you described:

• Paranoid belief about abandonment
• No supporting evidence, or evidence to the contrary
• Unable to access doubt in the moment
• No hallucinations or voices — purely paranoid ideation
• Resolves after the stress response subsides
• Insight returns afterward

That is genuinely the clinical picture of a transient quasi-psychotic episode in BPD. Not schizophrenia, not full psychosis — but not just cognitive distortion either. It sits in its own recognised category between the two."

Again, please note I'm aware this AI, and i'm coming here to check whether this is accurate or not. I'm aware AI can tell you what you want to hear etc.

But to me, finding the answer does seem to be a bit blurry which kinda fits the term of being on the border?

What about the term delusions?

For me, the fact that there is no supporting evidence at times when im splitting, sounds like it could be quasi-psychosis? If not, what makes it different in terms of the processes happening in the brain?