How Common is BPD?

BPD is much more common than you might imagine. A recent study of the prevalence of personality disorders in the U.S. found that about 1.4% of the population has BPD. That means that there are roughly four million people with BPD in the U.S. alone. Although many people have never heard of BPD, it is actually more common than many very well-known disorders, such as schizophrenia.

BPD is more commonly diagnosed in woman than in men. In fact, about 75% of those diagnosed with BPD are women. However, it is not known whether women are actually more prone to develop BPD, or whether this is due to sex biases in the diagnosis of BPD. For example, it may be that men with the symptoms of BPD are just more likely to be given another related diagnosis (e.g., posttraumatic stress disorder).