Borderline Personality Disorder: The Case Of Alex Forrest

Alexandra “Alex” Forrest is a 35 year old single woman who is a book editor that is working on a case with a law firm. Where at a book launch party met Dan Gallagher, a lawyer at said firm. She had met with him two weeks later during a meeting at the firm where afterwards they went to lunch. After lunch, Dan stated that his wife and young daughter were out of town visiting his in-laws and their soon to be new house. Alex had taken a liking to Mr. Gallagher at the party so she took advantage of their current situation.They wound up at her apartment where she admitted that they engaged in sexual intercourse. After their weekend affair, Alex admitted to feeling depressed, angry, and humiliated when Dan said that they needed to end it because he
She took a strong, emotional interest in him when she first saw him at the book launch. “Extreme reactions—including panic, depression, rage, or frantic actions—to abandonment, whether real or perceived” (Borderline Personality Disorder, n.d.), is one of the signs of BPD. Alex showed this symptom when after Dan tried to leave her, she showed frantic actions of suicidal tendencies along with destruction of property. Also, other signs are:
Impulsive and often dangerous behaviors, such as spending sprees, unsafe sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, and binge eating
Recurring suicidal behaviors or threats or self-harming behavior, such as cutting
Intense and highly changeable moods, with each episode lasting from a few hours to a few days
Inappropriate, intense anger or problems controlling
She is dangerous and impulsive with her actions such as sleeping with a man whom she had just met, stalking his family and destroying his vehicle. Alex attempts suicide towards the beginning, but showed no signs after the first incident. She was constantly changing her view of Dan and his family. She tried killing him on several occasions along with his wife, but then loved him and his daughter. Also, she seemed to have lost touch with reality before she “kindly” kidnapped their daughter and tried to murder his wife. Assessments such as personality tests can be used to rule out other personality disorders or used to indicate that there is one at all. The Mayo Clinic Staff (n.d.) stated that certain questionnaires, extensive interviews, certain medical history and signs and symptoms are used to diagnosis for Borderline Personality Disorder. Tests such as the MMPI-2 can be used to narrow down the possibilities of a certain disorder, but many other tests need to be conducted as