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Saturday, March 26, 2011

A speculation about Ayn Rand

Did Ayn Rand suffer from Borderline Personality Disorder? The published biographies describe Rand's odd behaviors which make me wonder:

Borderline personality disorder

Personality disorder - borderline

Last reviewed: November 15, 2010.

Borderline personality disorder is a condition in which people have long-term patterns of unstable or turbulent emotions, such as feelings about themselves and others.

These inner experiences often cause them to take impulsive actions and have chaotic relationships. . .

Symptoms

People with BPD are often uncertain about their identity. As a result, their interests and values may change rapidly.

People with BPD also tend to see things in terms of extremes, such as either all good or all bad. Their views of other people may change quickly. A person who is looked up to one day may be looked down on the next day. These suddenly shifting feelings often lead to intense and unstable relationships.

Other symptoms of BPD include:

  • Fear of being abandoned

  • Feelings of emptiness and boredom

  • Frequent displays of inappropriate anger

  • Impulsiveness with money, substance abuse, sexual relationships, binge eating, or shoplifting

  • Intolerance of being alone

  • Repeated crises and acts of self-injury, such as wrist cutting or overdosing

Regarding the last symptom, "self-injury," Rand to the best of my knowledge didn't cut herself. She did describe the character Dominique Francon in her novel The Fountainhead as herself in a bad mood, however. And, interestingly, Dominique cuts herself in the bombing scene, apparently in a state of dissociation from the consequences of her self-destructive actions:

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