Table 2 DSM-5 symptom criteria for borderline personality disorder [5]

1. Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment

2. A pattern of unstable^a and intense interpersonal relationships

3. Impulsivity in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging^a

4. Identity disturbance: markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self

5. Recurrent suicidal behaviour, gestures, or threats, or self-mutilating behaviour

6. Affective instability due to a marked reactivity of mood^a

7. Chronic feelings of emptiness

8. Inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger^a

9. Transient, stress-related paranoid ideation or severe dissociative symptoms

Associated features supporting the diagnosis

• Recurrent job losses, interrupted education, and separation or divorce are common^a