BPD vs. Bipolar disorder test

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and Bipolar disorder (BD) can be very confusing. It’s common to mistake one for the other. This is because, despite being distinct disorders, they have overlapping main symptoms.¹Even though the two conditions can co-occur, those with BPD are at a greater risk of getting misdiagnosed with BD.²

Taking the test

This quiz is based on the non-overlapping symptoms of BD and BPD. Some items are more effective at distinguishing between the two conditions and are therefore weighted more heavily in the scoring system, making the quiz as accurate as possible.³

Disclaimer: This quiz does not provide any diagnosis or substitute for mental health treatment or care. This contains information and questions that could help you think and reflect more. For any emotional distress or symptoms that disrupt the normality of your everyday life, do go and seek professional help.

Bipolar vs BPD test

For each statement, indicate how well it describes your usual experience over the past several years, not just your current mood.

TAKE THIS TEST

YOUR TOTAL POINTS

Overlapping symptoms

The common symptoms of BPD and BD are:

Extreme mood swings
Impulsive behaviors
Difficulty managing emotions
Flight of ideas (jumping quickly from one topic to another)
Distractibility (easily distracted)
Irritability (easily irritated)⁴

Key differences

Despite these similarities, BPD and BD are different in that the former is a personality disorder while the latter is a mood disorder.

BPD is characterized by:

BD is characterized by:

Episodes of mania (high energy)
Episodes of depression (low energy)

What a manic episode looks like:

Elevated mood and increased energy
Decreased need for sleep
High self-confidence
Talkativeness
Excessive money-spending⁶
Hyperactivity
Increased sociality and sexuality
Engaging in risky behaviors

A depressive episode looks like the ‘polar’ opposite of mania, with a massive decrease of all the above high-energy symptoms.

Similar, yet different

What complicates distinguishing BPD from BD even more is that even some of the overlapping symptoms can manifest differently in each condition.⁷ The difference is less about quality and more about the relative severity, as shown in the table below.

Symptom	BPD	BD
Emotional instability	Higher	Lower
Emotional dependency	Higher	Lower
Aggression	Higher	Lower
Hopelessness	Higher	Lower

References

1
American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.). American Psychiatric Association Publishing. ↩︎
2
Ruggero, C. J., Zimmerman, M., Chelminski, I., & Young, D. (2010). Borderline personality disorder and the misdiagnosis of bipolar disorder. Journal of psychiatric research, 44(6), 405-408. ↩︎
3
Bayes, A. J., & Parker, G. B. (2020). Differentiating borderline personality disorder (BPD) from bipolar disorder: diagnostic efficiency of DSM BPD criteria. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 141(2), 142-148. ↩︎
4
Baryshnikov, I., Aaltonen, K., Koivisto, M., Näätänen, P., Karpov, B., Melartin, T., … & Isometsä, E. (2015). Differences and overlap in self-reported symptoms of bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder. European Psychiatry, 30(8), 914-919. ↩︎
5
Wright, L., Lari, L., Iazzetta, S., Saettoni, M., & Gragnani, A. (2022). Differential diagnosis of borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder: Self‐concept, identity and self‐esteem. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 29(1), 26-61. ↩︎
6
Bayes, A. J., & Parker, G. B. (2019). Cognitive and behavioral differentiation of those with borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 207(8), 620-625. ↩︎
7
Carvalho, L. F., & Pianowski, G. (2019). Differentiating borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder through emotional dependency, emotional instability, impulsiveness and aggressiveness traits. The European Journal of Psychiatry, 33(2), 91-95. ↩︎