Body image and borderline personality disorder are deeply intertwined. Negative body image can cause and maintain borderline personality disorder, and borderline personality disorder frequently worsens how we feel about our bodies.
How Negative Body Image Drives Borderline Personality Disorder
- Chronic dissatisfaction with physical appearance depletes psychological resources
- Body shame — a particularly painful form of shame — directly drives borderline personality disorder
- Comparison of body to social standards is a primary borderline personality disorder trigger
- Body image concerns often involve the same negative self-evaluation patterns as borderline personality disorder
How Borderline Personality Disorder Affects Body Image
Borderline Personality Disorder can worsen body image through reduced self-care motivation, changes in appetite and weight, and a general negative lens that extends to physical self-perception.
Addressing Body Image and Borderline Personality Disorder Together
- Body neutrality: Not requiring positive body feelings, just reduction of hostility
- Body functionality focus: What your body does vs. how it looks
- Intuitive eating: Reconnecting with hunger and satisfaction cues disrupted by borderline personality disorder
- Therapy: CBT and ACT effectively address both body image and borderline personality disorder