Читать книгу Borderline Personality Disorder: A Case Study of the Movie FATAL ATTRACTION, Second Edition - Francine R Goldberg - Страница 6

This scene, similar to the previous scene, provides more clues that Alex may fit the diagnostic criteria for BPD rather than actually providing specific evidence to make such a diagnosis. She acts on the opportunity to seduce Dan and, in and of itself, her action and reasoning seem sound, i.e., Dan’s wife is out of town for the week-end, Alex is attracted to Dan, both are adults and both agree to be discreet.

The clues appearing in this scene are:

•a pattern of undermining oneself at the moment a goal is about to be realized. This is exemplified by Alex’s response to Dan when he lets her know that he is willing to be a “naughty boy” with her and the decision as to whether to go ahead and act on it will be up to her. After successfully seducing him, she cuts him down by telling him she has not yet made up her mind as to whether she wants to go forward.

•seducing a man that she barely knows and who is not available for a relationship with her may be indicative of criterion # 4, impulsivity…

People with BPD cannot tolerate being alone. Thus, they “prefer a frantic search for companionship, no matter how unsatisfactory, to sitting by themselves. To assuage loneliness, if only for brief periods, they accept a stranger as a friend or are promiscuous.” (Kaplan and Sadock, 1991, p.534).