Readers who simply stumble upon this piece should understand that it is an attempt to develop an hypothesis of CPTSD > BPD as a reflection of developmental arrest in both Eriksonian and Piagetian terms. And that it began with repeated observation of "discouraged" borderlines as patients blamelessly trapped in infantile states of near-complete helplessness, dependence upon others, and inability to function on their own.
Start with this brief article on Re-Development.
Hypothesis: Borderlinism is an illness of developmental stunting. Among Million's Four Types, the...
a) "discouraged" borderline is usually stuck in infancy or early toddlerhood, Erikson's Trust vs. Distrust and Piaget's Sensorimotor Processing. She cannot trust at all here and can only over- (and "blindly") trust there. In large part because she has an as yet only partially complete brain stuck in the lingering state of Learned Helplessness, she is so overwhelmed by terror of abuse or abandonment, and/or so self-protectively dissociated that she cannot see, hear, feel or sense what is actually so in her world, and thus has nothing to use a starting point for accurate evaluation, interpretation, assessment, analysis or attribution of meaning to what has either gone unseen, unheard, unfelt and unsensed, or is just way too painful and frightening to see, hear, feel or sense. (Think "crack babies" and "dumpster babies," as well as infants born to mothers incapable of caring for them).
b) "self-destructive" borderline is usually stuck in late toddlerhood or the pre-school era, Erikson's Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt and Piaget's Pre-Operational Processing. She is enraged by caregivers who fail to see, hear, feel, sense or understand her and nurture her... and is trapped in the uncontrolled tantrums of the "terrible twos," to which she will reliably regress under adolescent and adult stress... and start cutting or burning to try to deal with her extreme emotional pain.
c) "impulsive" borderline is usually stuck in the kindergarten and early grade school era, Erikson's Initiative vs, Guilt and the post-Piagetian concept of Fantasy Operational Processing (in not-moses’s reply to the OP on that Reddit thread), believing that she can find a magical way to escape her awful life in some form of obsessive-compulsive activity. (Think pre-teen alcoholic or drug abuser.)
d) "petulant" borderline is usually stuck in the later grade school and middle school eras, Erikson's Industry vs. Inferiority (now often called "Competence vs. Incompetence") and the early stages of Piaget's Concrete Operational Processing, believing that she has a perfect right to more subtly spray her rage upon others in more evolved ways she has learned, including intimidation, embarrassment, humiliation, emotional blackmail, gaslighting and other "gotcha" games on Karpman Drama Triangles. (Think "I can't get back at those who wrecked my life, so I will take it out on anyone else who gets close.)
But do bear in mind that most people with BPD exhibit more than one of those types. It is vital to understand, however, that the truly "discouraged" borderline (or IFSM part of the borderline mind that is "discouraged") does NOT have Compensatory Narcissistic Personality Disorder because her functioning (or the functioning of that part) hit the wall before her brain had the capacity to develop compensations more sophisticated than gross dissociation.
References & Resources
Erikson, E.: Childhood and Society, New York: W. W. Norton, 1950, 1967, 1993.
Erikson, E.: Identity and the Life Cycle, New York: W. W. Norton, 1959, 1980.
Erikson, E.: The Problem of Ego Identity, in Stein, M., et al: Identity and Anxiety, Glencoe, IL: The Free Press, 1960.
Erikson, E.: Identity: Youth and Crisis, New York: W. W. Norton, 1968.
Karpman, S.: Fairy tales and script drama analysis, in Transactional Analysis Bulletin, Vol. 7, No. 26, 1968.
Kernberg, O.: Severe Personality Disorders: Psychotherapeutic Strategies, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1977.
Kernberg, O.; Selzer, M.; et al: Psychodynamic Psychotherapy of Borderline Patients, New York: Basic Books, 1989.
Kluft, R.: Shelter from the Storm: Processing the Traumatic Memories of DID / DDNOS Patients with The Fractionated Abreaction Technique, North Charleston SC: CreateSpace Independent Publishing, 2013.
Meissner, W.: The Borderline Spectrum: Differential Diagnosis and Developmental Issues, New York: Jason Aronson, 1984.
Meissner, W.: Treatment of Patients in the Borderline Spectrum, New York: Jason Aronson, 1988.
Millon, T.; Grossman, S.; Meagher, S., Millon, C., Everly, G.: Personality Guided Therapy, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1999.
Millon, T.: Personality Disorders in Modern Life, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2004. includes the four types of bpd
Millon, T.; Grossman, S.: Moderating Severe Personality Disorders: A Personalized Psychotherapy Approach, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2007.
Millon, T.; Grossman, S.: Overcoming Resistant Personality Disorders: A Personalized Psychotherapy Approach, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2008.
Piaget, J.: The Origins of Intelligence in Children, New York: International University Press, 1936, 1952.
Schwartz, R.: Internal Family Systems Therapy, London: Guilford Press, 1997.
Section One: Basic explanations & recovery activities
Section Two: More advanced
Section Three: Neurobiology
Section Four: BPD as an Upshot of CPTSD
Section Five: Critical Thinking
Section Six: Workbooks
Section Seven: Workbooks Specifically on Anger Processing
