Asperger Syndrome vs. Borderline Personality Disorder

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What are the key differences ? Eye contact ?

Everything.

To be fair, I've read in many places that women can be misdiagnosed with BPD when in fact they really have Aspergers. In fact, I was misdiagnosed BPD and Bipolar II about 8 years ago.

Some differences are, ASD are identified at an early age (or at least began then) where BPD is not. Its primarily an adult disorder.

Speech abnormalities are not part of BPD characteristics.

Some things that can be the same, normal to high intelligence, intense interests, impaired relationships, inability to make friends, problems socially, repetitive behaviors.

So what is the need for two different diagnosis that in fact are the same. And Wikipedia puts no word for clearing this issue.

They are not the same.

Sometimes wiki is not a good source for information either especially if you have no knowledge on the subject because then it can be mis-interpretted.

Based on experience, I knew a girl with BPD. She had no problems with speech. She did however avoid restaurants because people were there.

She would feign slicing herself to garnish sympathy from others (she wore a bandage on her arm and revealed she wasn't really hurt but she wanted someone else to feel sorry for her)

She had severe issues with abandonment and would threaten that she would kill herself if others left her.

She never wanted to be left alone...ever!

She would hit herself in the face if she did not get what she demanded. It wasn't a stim.

She was unstable, promiscious and often used sex to get what she wanted out of others.

There is more but will just leave it at that.

There is a big difference.

Borderline Personality Disorder falls under the category of Mental Illness whereas Asperger's Syndrome is strictly a neurological
disorder...a person can develop BPD as a result of growing up and learns "dysfunctional" ways of dealing with life's challenges
and difficulties; however, AS is "hardwired" in the person's brain at birth. Many of the Astronauts who work for NASA are believed to have some degree of Asperger's Syndrome.

I'm puzzled by the question. What are the similarities?

Speaking from the perspective of one who's pretty sure she used to have BPD and who has some aspie traits, and who has participated at forums for both.

I think any overlap in how the two appear is due to real true overlap, in the sense of both existing at the same time, in the same people.

Someone with BPD can have Asperger's or some aspie traits.

And someone with Asperger's may have had enough trauma in their life (just from having Asperger's) to have BPD or just some of the symptoms of BPD.

Asperger's is a neurological difference. BPD is a set of behavioral differences (mostly) that come out of trauma (and there are different types of trauma). (Simplified description of BPD there; unfortunately, there's no good short description such as "neurological difference" with Asperger's.)

So, any overlap between the two is because neither exists in a vacuum apart from the person who has them. Some people with BPD are people with neurological differences that they and those around them didn't/don't understand. Probably a good portion.

And some with Asperger's (maybe a lot, maybe most) have suffered trauma from being aspie in an NT world that doesn't understand them, from being expected to have an NT response to the world, to parents, to teachers, etc.

One book on Adult ADD that I read said that most people with ADD have PTSD, which has a lot of similarity to BPD (the likely aren't completely separate things). Seems to me being aspie in an NT world could very well have the same kind of effect.

They aren't the same thing.

First of all, BPD isn't with you at birth. Secondly, Wikipedia, there's your problem.

I'm not sure what Pwjb meant by "And Wikipedia puts no word for clearing this issue.", however, I just read the summaries at the top of each of the two article, and the descriptions are quite difference. Wikipedia does NOT give the impression the two are alike. Perhaps Pwjb just meant that Wikipedia doesn't have anything about how to differentiate the two. But that's probably because the two things are so completely different that it didn't occur to anyone that there was any need. So don't blame Wikipedia. I seriously doubt that Pwjb's initial question came out of reading Wikipedia. I think Wikipedia just didn't answer the question.

To repeat the idea I expressed before, but in a different way. Any similiarities between people with BPD, as a group, and people with Asperger's as a group, is because of people who are in both groups. (Or at least have traits similar to each if not the full fledged syndrome.)

Someone with BPD who doesn't have Asperger's, nor similar subclinical traits, won't be confused with someone who has Asperger's but not BPD, nor similar subclinical traits. (Subclinical traits = some traits, but not enough for a diagnosis.)

Any BPD-like behaviors from someone with Asperger's aren't part of the core traits, but are part of the frustration of dealing with having Asperger's or with people who expect everyone to think like them. Any Aspie traits in someone with BPD aren't BPD, but either innate traits, or else the result of extreme dissociation. (I won't rule out the possibility that dissociation can sometimes cause someone to look to others a lot like someone with Asperger's, but dissociation is not the same as BPD; BPD can include dissocation, but dissociation can happen separately.)

There are a lot of similarities, actually, and I think a lot of the supposed differences are overblown.

For example, the whole "AS is neurological and is with you at birth, BPD is not" thing. It's impossible to say that for sure. You can't diagnose AS when a baby is six months old, either. It is only at a certain age when differences become apparent. It's just that many, probably almost all, children are emotionally volatile and can have tantrums. Also, many teenagers are emotionally disturbed, depressed, and needy, so it's hard to diagnose BPD in teens. Scientists believe that there is a strong genetic component to BPD. If that is the case, then how is it different from AS when it comes to nature vs. nurture? I have read many times that scientists think that AS, while largely genetic, is caused by a mix of genetic and environmental factors, and it seems like the same is the case for BPD, although perhaps environmental factors are more important in BPD than in AS.

Similarities between the two include an obsessive nature, often above average intelligence, difficulty with identity, difficulty in managing/understanding emotions, and black and white thinking. People with AS and BPD often confuse those around them with the seemingly bizarre logic behind their behaviors. Both have much difficulty with interpersonal relationships.

Of course, there are some major differences between the two, but even these differences can oftentimes be linked (BPD and AS people have different kinds of relationship issues, but they both have relationship issues).

Thoughts? I think this is a fascinating topic and it wouldn't surprise me if one day BPD and AS were considered much more similar than people would think they are today.

All these labels come from the DSM-IV which gives criteria that must be met for each diagnosis. I feel the criteria are off, living in the land of autism/aspergers, but, they are the only criteria that must be met for each label.

It's a shame the DSM-IV believes people with autism rarely talk and cant communicate or understand...but, these criteria are for young children, not older kids, teens or adults.

A person without a label in their life will wonder why they are different, while others around them prove they are. A person with a label knows what they are dealing with, which can help them find coping skills for their differences. Being significantly different from others causes a lot of pain either way, labels keep 'em seperated, and not having one leaves others able to speculate...and others speculations are often wrong, but the person being speculated upon will often believe what they are being told, just wanting an answer as to why they are different.

All humans struggle with finding happiness and all seek it. Keep seeking.
Tygereyes

I would say borderline has more in common with ADHD, not really with AS though.

I would like to add that if you look at the DSM-IV symptoms, there are clearly a lot of differences between the two. The way the DSM-IV defines them, they barely seem related... but I think in actuality there are a lot more similarities than meet the eye. They are almost mirror images of each other. Most people with AS are men, while most people with BPD are women. People with AS have trouble relating to the world logically, whereas people with BPD have trouble relating to the world emotionally. Both aspies and people with BPD have meltdowns when they feel like they are spinning out of control.

You can have a personality disorder and Asperger's Syndrome. Personality disorders supposedly occur when there is a prolonged disruption while the personality is developing. Years and years of the same experiences can cause someone to form a personality that varies from the norm. The norm being a caring, empathetic, social, extroverted, stable type of personality. Even though it's debatable if that is really normal because so many are not that way.
Which leads me to the conclusion that everyone has a personality disorder, it's called having a personality.
These things can be so confusing because you simply cannot label people with any accuracy. You can point to a set of traits in an individual, but as soon as a label is used, people will start trying to conform to that label and forget they are individuals with varying potentials and drives.
The most important thing to remember is people are far more capable than others realize. For some reason, when someone varies from the norm, people assume they cannot do much, label them, in some cases "disabled" which is a total insult and very demeaning label for anyone to endure.
Being thought of as a capable person is healthier psychologically, plus it gives people a sense of confidence.
Also, recognizing that the "abled" are not invincible, "perfect" godlike beings. This is not the case. Black and White thinking seems to be a significant problem.
Don't ever call me disabled.

I'm guessing that people with BPD don't have the marked and sustained problems with reciprocal social interaction that is the hallmark of autism (from taking on the appearance of lecturing people to ignoring them completely).

I'm also guessing that they show and understand the zillion and one nonverbal cues like everyone who doesn't have an ASD can.

I'm still guessing that they don't have the obsessive thoughts (where one can't think of anything but that single thought); the need for structure, rules and routines [or there's a very good chance they can't do whatever it is]; the obsessive interest where the individual collects a multitude of facts [and ignores things outside of this interest], and can recite them like a parrot at will (like what I'm doing now; go-go-autism).