Character Grooming
A person who suffers from this disorder has labile interpersonal relationships characterized by instability. This pattern of interacting with others has persisted for years and is usually closely related to the person’s self-image and early social interactions. The pattern is present in a variety of settings (e.g., not just at work or home) and often is accompanied by a similar lability (fluctuating back and forth, sometimes in a quick manner) in a person’s affect, or feelings. Relationships and the person’s affect may often be characterized as being shallow. A person with this disorder may also exhibit impulsive behaviors and exhibit a majority of the following symptoms
- An unstable sense of self, identity or self-image
- A pattern of unstable and intense relationships that alternate between wholly positive feelings and wholly negative feelings about the other person
- Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment
- Emotional instability including periods of depression and anger
- Chronic feelings of emptiness
- Impulsivity that is potentially self-damaging
- Recurring suicidal behavior, gestures, threats or self-injury
- Stress-related paranoia
- Dissociation
- Transient, stress-related paranoid thoughts or severe dissociative symptoms
