BPD and Purge Schemas

In a recent review of blogs about Borderlines – to see what else is out there and to review myths that are being put forth on the Internet – I found this comment about BPD:
Beck and Freeman (1990) describe three core cognitive schema present in BPD as “The world is dangerous and malevolent”, “I am powerless and vulnerable” and “I am inherently unacceptable.”

Beck is a CBT theorist who sets forth the “schema” approach to fixing the self. DBT uses the “emotional dysregulation” approach. What I found interesting about the above quote is that borderlines themselves identify with it as if it completely describes them. Clearly, the shame aspect is there (I am inherently unacceptable) as well as the fear aspects.

As for the “powerless and unacceptable” I find it interesting that borderlines also play the other side of the argument – that is, I am tough, I am powerful, etc. This aspect, I suppose, is why the whole “trip to Oz” myth came about – that they are the allpowerful wizard, but, as I have said in other posts, they are really Dorothy (small and meek).