A note:

I am not defined by my diagnoses. I am not putting these lists on here for any other reason except for those who would like to know what these disorders are, think they may have the disorder, or characteristics of the disorder. I cannot speak for others who have the disorders, but I do not display characteristics of every disorder everyday. To make my point clear, I do not consider these diagnoses a 'checklist' of my personality. They are only definitions of specific characteristics of my behavior, and I do not use any of the diagnoses as an excuse for my actions.

DSM-IV Criteria for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

A. The person has been exposed to a traumatic event in which both of the following were present:

1. the person experienced, witnessed, or was confronted with an event or events that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of self or others

2. the person's response involved intense fear, helplessness, or horror. Note: In children, this may be expressed instead by disorganized or agitated behavior

B. The traumatic event is persistently reexperienced in one (or more) of the following ways:

1. recurrent and intrusive distressing recollections of the event, including images, thoughts, or perceptions. Note: In young children, repetitive play may occur in which themes or aspects of the trauma are expressed.

2. recurrent distressing dreams of the event. Note: In children, there may be frightening dreams without recognizable content.

3. acting or feeling as if the traumatic event were recurring (includes a sense of reliving the experience, illusions, hallucinations, and dissociative flashback episodes, including those that occur on awakening or when intoxicated). Note: In young children, trauma-specific reenactment may occur.

4. intense psychological distress at exposure to internal or external cues that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event

5. physiological reactivity on exposure to internal or external cues that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event

C. Persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma and numbing of general responsiveness (not present before the trauma), as indicated by three (or more) of the following:

1. efforts to avoid thoughts, feelings, or conversations associated with the trauma

2. efforts to avoid activities, places, or people that arouse recollections of the trauma

3. inability to recall an important aspect of the trauma

4. markedly diminished interest or participation in significant activities

5. feeling of detachment or estrangement from others

6. restricted range of affect (e.g., unable to have loving feelings)

7. sense of a foreshortened future (e.g., does not expect to have a career, marriage, children, or a normal life span)

D. Persistent symptoms of increased arousal (not present before the trauma), as indicated by two (or more) of the following:

1. difficulty falling or staying asleep

2. irritability or outbursts of anger

3. difficulty concentrating

4. hypervigilance

5. exaggerated startle response

DSM-IV Criteria for Major Depression

Major depression involves at least two weeks of deep despair and at least four of the following:

1. Sleep problems. Insomnia or sleeping all the time.

2. Appetite problems. Loss of appetite or major weight gain.

3. Lack of energy. Apathy, lethargy, no interest in anything.

4. Feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness, and/or terrible guilt.

5. Difficulty concentrating, or unusual indecisiveness.

6. Suicidal thoughts, or suicide attempts.

DSM-IV Criteria for Borderline Personality Disorder

I'm only a "borderline" 'borderline,' if that makes sense.

A pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:  

1. Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment. Note: Do not include suicidal or self-mutilating behavior covered in Criterion 5

2. Apattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation. 

3. Identity disturbance: markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self. 

4. Impulsivity in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging (e.g., spending, sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, binge eating). Note: Do not include suicidal or self-mutilating behavior covered in Criterion 5. 

5. Recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, or threats, or self-mutilating behavior 

6. Affective instability due to a marked reactivity of mood (e.g., intense episodic dysphoria, irritability, or anxiety usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a few days). 

7. Chronic feelings of emptiness 

8. Inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger (e.g., frequent displays of temper, constant anger, recurrent physical fights) 

9. Transient, stress-related paranoid ideation or severe dissociative symptoms

Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified

(ED-NOS)