MovieChat Forums > Love (2016) Discussion > Mickey is your classic case of Borderlin...

Mickey is your classic case of Borderline Personality Disorder

posted 8 years ago by dolemite4201
23 replies | jump to latest

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a personality disorder characterized by unusual variability and depth of moods. These moods may secondarily affect cognition and interpersonal relationships.

Other symptoms of BPD include impulsive behaviour, intense and unstable interpersonal relationships, unstable self-image, feelings of abandonment and an unstable sense of self. People with BPD often engage in idealization and devaluation of themselves and of others, alternating between high positive regard and heavy disappointment or dislike. Self-harm and suicidal behavior are common and may require inpatient psychiatric care.

[–] DeusExKatrina 8 years ago

TBPH I don't see very many of those symptoms in Mickey. She's more depressed than anything. I see the lows but I don't see the comparative highs one would associate with BPD.

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Pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source. True humility is the antidote to shame.

[–] Texas90 8 years ago

Mickey's tantrum pales in comparison to BPD behavior. She never threatened to kill herself, she never emotionally manipulated anyone through self-harm, and her personal opinions of people have never shifted dramatically enough to indicate splitting. Mickey frequently admits to blame and knows she's part of the problem, while borderline personalities frequently deal with self-hatred, they commonly adopt a victim mentality.

Mickey is just like every chronically depressed addict I know. There is a reason psychiatric professionals won't diagnose a person who's in the throes of addiction. The common behaviors of an addict frequently mimic those also found in victims of personality disorders and other mental illnesses (e.g. Bipolar disorder).

[–] crazy_drunk_pedestrian 8 years ago

I dated/was victimized by a Borderline woman for 4 years. Trust me, Mickey's behavior is NOTHING like that of someone with BPD. Please leave psychological assessment to the professionals.

That said, if anyone's seeking an ACCURATE portrayal of BPD, check out Bates Motel. The Norma Bates character is so Borderline it makes my skin crawl.

[–] shes_hollywood 8 years ago

... lemme guess? you're a dude who's dated some "crazy" chicks and then, PsychologyToday became your best friend.

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Proud kamikaze woman

[–] milicentbrovovich 8 years ago

LOL. Totally.

Mickey isn't BPD. I find BPD really sad as it is so destructive and obviously as a mental illness you don't know how to feel about some of the people suffering with it as they can often be very emotionally abusive.

Mickey is just a depressed addict. She's somewhat self-aware and although her head isn't at all clear (due to addiction) and she can be rude, she's not malicious and she genuinely cares for people. She's just direct and can be blunt, but also coupled with depression and addiction issues causes a mess. I really like her though.

[–] nicademis32 8 years ago

Or could have actually dated someone who has BPD.

[–] shes_hollywood 8 years ago

Maybe, but I doubt it. It's estimated that like under 6% of the population has BPD and I've noticed an uptick in recent years of men SO CONVINCED that they were dating a girl who has BPD. I've even had men tell me that many BPD-characteristics seem consistent with normal female behavior. It's one thing for a woman to have an affinity for drama and another to have a treatment-resistant, excruciating, and interpersonally devastating personality disorder.

... So, I think BPD is the new dog whistle for yesterday's "crazy girl" label. No diagnosis needed apparently.
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Proud kamikaze woman

[–] dolemite4201 8 years ago

U sound BPD.

While only 6% of women might have BPD, I'm sure the percentage will go a lot higher when looking at single women who are actively dating. The non-BPD chicks get married, but the BPDs are not marriage material, so they keep dating and exposing more men to their brand of crazy.

And although Mickey is not a real person, all her mannerisms fall in perfectly with the description of BPD.

Hope this helps.

[–] shes_hollywood 8 years ago

Haha alright. How do you figure? My therapist doesn't believe in personality "disorders" :P How are all of these "BPD" girls IRL terrorizing all these poor single guys?!

I do love your astute observations, however. Because the ONLY reason women choose to not get married is because they're borderline? I'd love to hear your take on why men stay single and or aren't marriage material...

"Unstable self-image, ....unstable sense of self. People with BPD often engage in idealization and devaluation of themselves and of others, alternating between high positive regard and heavy disappointment or dislike. Self-harm and suicidal behavior are common and may require inpatient psychiatric care."

I don't really see any of these as a part of Mickey's M.O. She's a VERY high functioning BPD if that's the case.

[–] dolemite4201 8 years ago

All men and women want to get married to high quality mates. The only reason someone stays single is because they haven't met a person who satisfies their requirements. Most women want a man who is tall and makes good money. Men want women who are young, thin, and sweet/feminine. Both men and women want someone stable.

A BPD woman is usually very engaging at first, and men are usually taken in by their charms. However the man usually tires of the mood swings and impulsive behavior of the BPD woman (which often involves infidelity) and decides that the BPD woman is not a good long-term contender.

There is a spectrum of BPD
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/impossible-please/201310/do-you-know-the-4-types-borderline-personality-disorder
Mickey would probably fall into the "Impulsive" category.

[–] shes_hollywood 8 years ago

You're grossly mistaken when you say that any one population (of 7 billion people) want the same thing! Plenty of people don't and choose not to marry for a myriad of reasons, many times because they believe most LTRs are complete BS. I'm a woman and I don't wanna marry, have kids, nor care about a man's height. And when I do date, I do choose wealthier men only outta cynicism because if I MUST put up with the standard male-bs, he might as well be ;)

I also find it completely ridic that the women with BPD (and women in general), in YOUR skewed reality, have no agency when it comes to their relationships with men. It's also offensive and off-putting what you think ALL men are looking for in women.

Is the PsychologyToday link a reference to my initial post? Because if not, that's kinda funny. But agree to disagree, I just don't see it so definitively.

[–] byhisnoodlyappendage 8 years ago

i really hope youre just bad a trolling because calling people BPD, even on the internet, disparages those who have an illness that they cannot control. empathy should be at the heart of the conversation, not using the term to demean others. In other words, grow up.

[–] TwentytoOneDevotchka 7 years ago

first of all, its 6% of the population, men included, not just women.Second, there are plenty of non bpd women who choose not to get married. That statement was just ludicrous. Intersting how you said "exposing" men to their brand of crazy as if they are nuclear toxic waste.

disagree on your assessment of Mickey.Shes just a somewhat depressed lonely girl that ultimately wants to be happy but often makes the wrong choices. Being impulsive, adventurous or feisty does not necessarily equate bpd.

[–] aliyahrocks 8 years ago

I don't understand Mickey. Is she really an addict? I just finished watching S1 and to me she is just a IDGAF/ laid back personality type of girl who likes to smoke and drink. I never saw her as having a "drinking" or drug" problem in the show's storylines. What is she even addicted to?

[–] shes_hollywood 8 years ago

Yeah, I didn't really consider her situation as unmanageable and out of control until I visited these boards and now I'm starting to question if I have some problems myself if her behavior is totally out of control.

But she's an alcoholic, love/sex and drug addict.

[–] dolemite4201 7 years ago

word

[–] TwentytoOneDevotchka 7 years ago

From what I gathered shes a recovering addict. Which means she likely drank heavily, smoked lots of grass and popped her share of painkillers. She just seems to be on a downward slope because of all the bad things happening in her life. So far we have seen her take pills in the premiere episode (and her boyfriend had a coke problem so Im sure she dabbled in that too) Take an Ambien. get wasted...so ya, she certainly is an addict...just one thats started to backslide from her recovery

[–] patronus12 8 years ago

Mickey may be depressed, have low self-esteem, and have other issues, but she is definitely not a borderline. Sorry but you're way off on that.

See 'Fatal Attraction' for a depiction of BPD.

[–] dolemite4201 8 years ago

Nah there's different types of borderline. Not all are "fatal attraction" types

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/impossible-please/201310/do-you-know-the-4-types-borderline-personality-disorder

[–] patronus12 8 years ago

Borderline personality disorder is an Axis II disorder, it's very serious and incurable (equivalent to missing an arm).

The web site you link to has very general and high-level descriptions. You won't get a true sense of the disorders from them.

No romantic comedy is going to have a borderline as a leading character.

[–] dolemite4201 8 years ago

This is not your standard romcom.

The way Mickey blew up in the gas station because they guy wouldn't give her free stuff...that was not normal. That was a seriously messed up person. Then they way she played the text-messaging joke when Gus went out on the date with Bertie. Very BPD.

[–] TwentytoOneDevotchka 7 years ago

umm she had been up all night on an Ambien bender. The clerk was being a total asshat by not letting her just go get the money. Hed rather waste the coffee and throw it away than give a customer hes interacted with numerous times the benefit of the doubt and let a 1.50 coffee slide

The text message play was funny and entertaining. not really sure how that fits into the realm of BPD.

[–] pdlussier1 7 years ago

I agree that all the tell-tales are there and based on what I know and lived, it's also the conclusion I've reached and can defend extremely well with a breakdown of her behaviour, from reactions to speech.

The only difference is, unlike you, I'm not yet willing to say "she is" and I have to stick with "might be". She exhibits all the signs (even what we see and learn re three of her ex-boyfriends shows the typical pattern), but I don't feel she's yet showed us the real ugly side that would confirm BPD.
Her moderated explosions and the obsessive need to quickly provide any apology to rectify things is also typical of a BPD sufferer going into a relationship; once established is when the destructive abuses mark the patterns making it possible to accurately label someone as BPD.
We'll know in season 2, but either way, it's clear she has impulse-control and abandonment issues.

Ignorance is bliss... 'til it posts on the Internet, then, it's annoying.