There's a lot of info on the net on the signs and symptoms of both disorders... There are similarities and big differences

A mood disorder such as bipolar is cyclical so there will be cycles of highs or lows with stability in between... A personality disorder is ones personality so it's not a cycle nor is it biochemical.... it's what the person lives with ongoing unless he/she seeks to make changes in themselves..

Usually personality disorders are treated with therapy.. Meds can help with symptoms however they won't bring it under control... Bipolar is treated with meds to bring it under control

I know that friends mean well but I would work with a psychiatrist.. Many disorders have symptoms that can overlap

you may find this useful. But I'd suggest you get a second opinion

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/stop-walking-eggshells/201003/three-easy-ways-differentiate-bipolar-and-borderline-disorders

Three Easy Ways to Differentiate Bipolar and Borderline Disorders
Bipolar or Borderline? A widely-used diagnostic is getting it wrong.
Published on March 25, 2010 by Randi Kreger in Stop Walking on Eggshells

While bipolar disorder (formerly manic depression) and borderline personality disorders share some clinical features-primarily unstable moods and impulsive actions--they are two different diagnoses with different treatments (although psychiatrists may use medications to treat BPD as well as bipolar). They're even categorized differently in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR). Bipolar is grouped in Axis I, clinical syndromes, and BPD is parked squarely in Axis II, personality (at least for now).
Yet that doesn't keep them from getting confused. Anecdotally, many family members tell me their loved one has been diagnosed with bipolar by a clinician when it appears to them that borderline personality disorder as described in the DSM-IV-TR seems to be a much better fit.
Now we've learned there may be more to this than a simple confusion.
A study from Rhode Island Hospital has shown that a widely-used screening tool for bipolar disorder may incorrectly indicate borderline personality disorder rather than bipolar disorder.
In the article that appears online ahead of print in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, the researchers question the effectiveness of the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ). The MDQ is the most widely-used and studied screening tool for bipolar disorder. It is a brief questionnaire that assesses whether a patient displays some of the characteristic behaviors of bipolar disorder.
The research team interviewed nearly 500 patients using the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic Statistical Manual IV (DSM-IV) and the Structured Interview for DSM-IV for personality disorders. The patients were also asked to complete the MDQ.
The research team then scored the questionnaires and found that patients with a positive indication for bipolar disorder using the MDQ were as likely to be diagnosed with borderline personality disorder as bipolar disorder when using the structured clinical interview.
Further, their findings indicate that borderline personality disorder was four times more frequently diagnosed in the group who screened positive on the MDQ.
Principal investigator Mark Zimmerman, MD, director of outpatient psychiatry at Rhode Island Hospital, says that these findings raise caution for using the MDQ in clinical practice because of how differently the disorders are treated. (You can find more info here: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-03/l-iir032510.php)
BPD and bipolar are often misdiagnosed as each other. Some people diagnosed with BPD actually have bipolar; the reverse is also true.
While only a qualified clinician can make a diagnosis of one or the other (or if both are present) there are three simple ways to distinguish bipolar disorder from borderline personality disorder.
Bipolar disorder causes dramatic mood swings, from overly "high" and/or irritable to sad and hopeless, and then back again, often with periods of normal mood in between. Severe changes in energy and behavior go along with these changes in mood. The periods of highs and lows are called episodes of mania and depression.
A cycle is the period of time it takes for a person to go through one episode of mania and one of depression. The frequency and duration of these cycles vary from person to person, from once every five years to once every three months. People with a subtype of bipolar (rapid--cycling bipolar) may cycle more quickly, but much less quickly than people with BPD (shifts can even last minutes/seconds).
According to Dr. Friedel, director of the BPD program at Virginia Commonwealth University, there are two main differences between BPD and bipolar disorder:
1. People with BPD cycle much more quickly, often several times a day.
2. The moods in people with BPD are more dependent, either positively or negatively, on what's going on in their life at the moment. Anything that might smack of abandonment (however far fetched) is a major trigger.
3. In people with BPD, the mood swings are more distinct. Marsha M. Linehan, professor of psychology at the University of Washington, says that while people with bipolar disorder swing between all-encompassing periods of mania and major depression, the mood swings typical in BPD are more specific. She says, "You have fear going up and down, sadness going up and down, anger up and down, disgust up and down, and love up and down."

Randi Kreger
Author, "The Essential Family Guide to Borderline Personality Disorder: New Tips and Tools to Stop Walking on Eggshells"
(Available at www.BPDCentral.com)

Here is a good link from the Mayo Clinic on Borderline Personality Disorder.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/borderline-personality-disorder/DS00442

Hi there, exactly as SunCloud says. I just actually watched some videos on borderline personality tonight and what I have gathered in just a nutshell it is sometimes mistaken for schizophrenia but it is nof that at all. A person may say in an hours time cry, be angry, and be joyful. Bipolar is shifts of mood that go from mania extreme highs(euphoria) to extreme lows(manic depressive) both are more than just being moody. The depressions are so bad it can lead to suicidal thoughts, isolation, and usually last for a length of time depending. Go to you tube and type it in, you'll find plenty of information or google.

Of course, lead your son to help 1st, worry about what to call his condition later.
Often, Bipolar is considered the more serious, medically treatable diagnosis, and personality disorders are secondary and recomended treatment is therapy best done when the bipolar is condition is stable.

I was diagnosed with Bipolar 2 in 2007. After seeing a new pdoc last year I discovered that he diagnosed me with Bipolar I and Borderline Personality Disorder.Lately I have been prone to agitation, anger, restlessness and impulsivity which has been hell. My new pdoc (another one, as I just moved) is currently trying to find a good med combo for me and I am going to talk to my therapist about DBT (did this back in 2007 in a group setting and I believe it was helpful.)

Good luck to you and your son.

A long delayed response to your replies. How can one lead an adult for help when they’ve received ‘help’ as a minor and now see that as the epitomy of our lack of mental illness awareness in the US?

Here are your benchmark issues with Borderline Personality Disorder. They are somewhat different that BiPolar Disorder as BiPolar is the Combination of 2 Emotional Disorders in 1 Disorder.

I also just read your last Post, and if your person was DX'd BiPolar at 14 or any age prior to 19 or 20, they need to be re-diagnosed by a Psychiatrist. You can't be Diagnosed BiPolar at a young age like 14 when the part of your brain needed to be off kilter and cause the BiPolar problems aren't even developed yet,

If your friend/family has not had a recent/current Mental checkup and Diagnosis they need one. That would be the easiest way to find out for sure what they had, and what they needed to be treated for. Relying on a family member saying "oh you might have such and such is not really a good diagnostic tool.

So explain to your adult family member that going now as an adult to get a Mental Diagnosis is the proper thing to do so that they can get the right treatment and get all of this under control and let life get back to some type of normalcy.

Take care,

Borderline personality disorder

Impulsive and risky behavior, such as having unsafe sex, gambling or binge eating
Unstable or fragile self-image
Unstable and intense relationships
Up and down moods, often as a reaction to interpersonal stress
Suicidal behavior or threats of self-injury
Intense fear of being alone or abandoned
Ongoing feelings of emptiness
Frequent, intense displays of anger
Stress-related paranoia that comes and goes

hi, welcome back.

So I guess he's 24 now.

I'll be brutally honest - he needs to take control - whatever happened in the past is the past - he needs to get a re-evaluation and then take the appropriate treatment. He needs to understand this is for his own sake. If it's bipolar it is likely to get worse untreated.

Sometimes the "system" or people let us down - he needs to persist. It's a good life lesson - sometimes you need to fight for what you need.