Inside the Divide: BPD Splitting Explained

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a mental health condition, usually presenting in early adulthood. BPD describes a persistent pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and marked impulsivity in different contexts.¹ Among the features present in BPD, ‘splitting’ stands out as a key behaviour and defence mechanism used to navigate challenging internal and external conflict. In this article, we will explore what splitting means in the context of BPD, triggers, effects, and coping strategies.

How is borderline personality disorder diagnosed?

In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders fifth edition (DSM-5), BPD is indicated by five or more of the following:¹

• Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment
• A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships which alternate between extremes of idealisation and devaluation (known as ‘splitting’)
• A persistently unstable self-image or sense of self
• Impulsive behaviours which are potentially self-damaging (e.g. reckless driving, overspending, sex, substance abuse)
• Recurrent suicidal behaviour and threats or self-harm
• Unstable emotional reactions due to reactive mood e.g. irritability or anxiety
• Chronic feelings of emptiness
• Inappropriate, intense anger, or difficulty controlling anger
• Transient, stress-related paranoia, or severe dissociative symptoms.

What is splitting?

When splitting happens, the person becomes divided. A triggering environmental event may cause them to perceive their relationships or themselves as ‘all good’ or ‘all bad’ with little areas for grey. When splitting occurs, the individual struggles to integrate their feelings of good and bad simultaneously. 

Splitting is a protective mechanism to reduce anxiety and fear by internally classifying objects as safe or threatening. By internally separating “good” and “bad” aspects of self and others, people with BPD shift between their assessment of people close to them as “all good” and “all bad” causing instability in relationships. According to scientist Kernberg (1984), the predominant use of splitting separates BPD from other personality disorders.² Understanding and addressing splitting in BPD is crucial in helping individuals foster healthy stable relationships.

Types of BPD splitting

Idealisation vs Devaluation

Idealisation

Individuals with BPD may quickly idealise others and put them on a pedestal, seeing them as perfect and incapable of being flawed.³

Devaluation

Individuals with BPD may devalue themselves or others, seeing them as negative or unworthy.³ They may devalue those they once idealised, feeling that the other person does not care enough or is not present enough.

Black-and-white thinking

Individuals with BPD experience black and white thinking, this all or nothing approach can make people, events and themselves be perceived as ‘all good’ or ‘all bad’.³

Triggers, contexts & effects of BPD splitting

Melanie Klein is a key psychoanalyst who has contributed to our understanding of splitting with her clinical work in childhood development. She described how children may split between idealising or devaluing their caregivers to deal with conflicting emotions of love and hate, security and abandonment.⁴

This struggle to integrate positive and negative aspects of self and experiences is referred to as a ‘split’. It appears in BPD as a coping mechanism foroverwhelming emotions and maintaining a sense of stability. This pattern of conflict can have harmful impacts on the individual’s self-esteem and self-worth leading to repressed anger and depression.⁵

In BPD, the splitting behaviour is usually underpinned by a logic that makes the contradiction rational and understandable for the patient. For example, their needs for intimacy and closeness may be jeopardised by a perceived threat of disappointment or abandonment fearing they are unworthy. An example of this is the intimacy dilemma seen in a study done with 10 BPD patients.⁶

This dilemma was present in all 10 patients who found it impossible to resolve the simultaneous ‘pull’ of closeness and distance. BPD patients persistently undermined their desire for closeness, sometimes as a way of punishing themselves or self-sabotaging a situation that they perceive themselves as unworthy or too flawed to handle.⁶

Psychological mechanisms behind BPD splitting

The psychological mechanisms behind BPD splitting include emotional regulation deficits, cognitive biases and attachment patterns.

Emotional regulation deficits

Difficulties regulating emotions are a core feature of BPD often leading to other behavioural symptoms of BPD such as marked impulsivity. In BPD individuals show:⁷

1. Emotional sensitivity - a lower threshold for reacting to cues
2. Emotional reactivity - larger emotional reactions to emotional stimuli and
3. Slow return to baseline - longer time period needed for the emotional response to pass

Cognitive biases

In BPD cognitive flexibility is impacted and affects environmental cue responses BPD is associated with a negative response bias to neutral stimuli. People with BPD have difficulty with decision-making, tending to make riskier decisions to avoid potential loss and may discount longer-term gains.⁷

This may in part be due to the slow return to baseline with higher negative emotions at baseline and prolonged feelings of shame. Individuals with BPD may be more likely to view social cues in a negative light, seeing criticism and rejection where others may not. Patients with BPD also self-report higher levels of jumping to conclusions, rejection sensitivity, and belief inflexibility.⁸

Attachment patterns

In BPD, insecure attachment styles provide a mechanism for splitting behaviours.This insecure attachment type typically presents in two forms:

1. Preoccupied form - clingy, angry, and dependent behaviours
2. Fearful/disorganised form - fearfulness, avoidant and conflicted behaviours

Insecure attachment types can stem from invalidating childhood experiences. BPD subjects report lower scores on secure attachment and higher scores on preoccupied and fearful attachment than non-borderline subjects. In BPD, individuals were shown to have a mix of the two insecure attachment forms reflecting a mixed internal model with the self as negative and others as either negative (fearful) or positive (preoccupied).⁹ This need versus fear dilemma provides insight into splitting behaviours and why they may occur.

BPD treatment

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy is the first line of treatment for BPD, with guidelines recommending therapy should last a minimum of 3 months.¹⁰ Therapies aimed at providing better coping strategies for BPD splitting include:

Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT)

DBT is a multi-faceted approach to BPD developed by Martha Lineman in the 1980s. DBT takes a change-based and acceptance-based treatment approach to improve the client’s dialectical (opposing) thinking. The treatment progresses in stages:

• Stage 1 - Focused on reducing self-damaging behaviours and helping the client develop behavioural control with tools designed to improve self-management, emotional regulation, and distress tolerance
• Stage 2 - Focused on improving the client’s ability to experience emotions without trauma
• Stage 3 - Focused on building the client’s self-respect and any behaviours that prevent them from reaching long-term goals

The balanced approach of problem-solving strategies and validation has shown success with BPD clients, improving their social adjustment.¹¹

Mentalisation-based therapy (MBT)

MBT was introduced by Bateman and Fonagy, with a focus on improving metallisation - the ability to recognise and name their feelings and thoughts, and that of others.¹² This tactic helps the client to identify and understand other’s behaviours and their reactions to them. MBT helps individuals with BPD by giving them strategies to deal with challenging emotions which may otherwise cause them to split and result in impulsivity.

Medication

Medication is not recommended for the treatment of any core symptom of BPD. Medication may be given for co-occuring mental illness such as severe anxiety and depression resulting from emotional instability. It is recommended these are only given as a treatment in crisis and for the shortest possible time.¹⁰

Challenges in addressing BPD splitting

Addressing BPD splitting can be challenging due to co-occuring conditions such as binge eating or substance abuse, stigma and misunderstanding, and therapeutic resistance. Treatment therefore requires a holistic integrative approach tackling psychological, environmental, and biological factors. Therapists are advised to always take a patient and compassionate approach creating an atmosphere of trust and safety.⁷

Future directions

Future research opportunities in BPD splitting and treatment look at neurobiological and genetic factors that may explain splitting.¹⁰ By looking at brain and nervous system biology, we can develop more targeted treatments for splitting. These areas alongside improved awareness and education of BPD splitting work towards building a stable foundation for overall wellbeing in BPD.

Summary

• Borderline personality disorder is a complex mental health condition characterised by emotional dysregulation, unstable interpersonal relationships, and shifting self-image
• Splitting is a key feature of BPD where the individual shifts from polar opposite views of “all good” and “all bad”, which causes difficulties in maintaining strong connections with self and others
• Current treatments include DBT and MBT, using a patient compassionate approach inspiring hope for integrating and minimising splitting