Sustained periods of contentment are foreign to the BPD sufferer. Chronic emptiness depletes him until he is desperate to do anything to escape. In the grip of these lows, he is prone to a myriad of impulsive, self-destructive acts—drug and alcohol binges, eating marathons, anorexic fasts, bulimic purges, gambling forays, shopping sprees, sexual promiscuity, and self-mutilation. He may attempt suicide, often not with the intent to die but to feel something, to confirm he is alive.
