A worked example showing how the 12 PIP activities can be described for someone living with borderline personality disorder, also called emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD). Every answer is written in the first person, in the plain wording assessors look for, and each one weaves in the reliability factors that decide how an activity scores.
Borderline personality disorder, which you may see on your letters as emotionally unstable personality disorder or EUPD, is a condition of mood and of how you relate to other people. The NHS groups its symptoms into four areas: emotional instability, disturbed patterns of thinking or perception, impulsive behaviour and intense but unstable relationships. In everyday life that can mean moods that swing from coping to despair within a few hours, a fear of being left by the people you most need, long stretches of feeling empty, anger that arrives faster than you can stop it, harsh beliefs about yourself and urges to self-harm or to do something reckless, such as a spending spree. Many people with BPD also live with depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, an eating disorder or problems with drink or drugs. The form does not ask which diagnosis came first, only what your conditions stop you doing, so if one of those is part of your picture, our depression example, anxiety and depression example and bipolar example cover those sides of the form.
BPD is also very easy to miss in an assessment. In a quiet room on a calm day you may come across as articulate and settled, and nothing about last month's crisis shows. That is why everything has to run through the reliability rules. An activity only counts as something you can do if you can do it safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and in a reasonable time. With BPD, "safely" carries a lot of weight. The official assessment guidance recognises that someone at risk of deliberately taking too much medication may need another person to keep their tablets, and that someone who is actively suicidal may need another person with them in the kitchen or on a journey. "To an acceptable standard" matters just as much: an appointment that ends with you shouting, walking out or cutting someone off for weeks has not been managed, even though you got through the door. Because your mood can change so quickly, write about the pattern over weeks and months, including how many days in a typical week things go wrong, rather than the one calm day an assessor happens to see.
Two things tend to get left off BPD forms. The first is the support that stops things going wrong: the partner, parent or friend who knows your triggers, the care coordinator from your community mental health team, the crisis plan, the person who holds your medication. If someone has to be there because they know you and know what to look for, say exactly what they do before, during and after. The second is the history people would rather not write down: self-harm, overdoses, calls to the crisis team, hospital stays and relationships that have broken down. You do not need graphic detail, but plain facts and rough dates, backed by letters from your mental health team where you have them, help an assessor see why that support is needed. The example below does exactly this, activity by activity. The DWP always makes the final decision, but describing your day accurately gives your form the strongest chance of being understood.
What to cover for each one. Your paid form writes the full answers for you.
Describe the days when emptiness or the aftermath of a crisis means you cannot face making anything, and whether someone has to encourage you or you simply go without a proper meal. If your care plan says you should not be alone with sharp knives or the hob during a crisis, or someone stays in the kitchen with you because of a risk of self-harm, say so plainly and say how often that applies. If you can cook a simple meal on most days, say that honestly.
This question is about getting food and drink into you, not cooking it. Mention it if you stop eating for days when you are distressed, or if you also have an eating disorder and someone has to prompt you to eat or keep an eye on what you eat. If meals are fine once they are in front of you, leave this one alone.
Explain whether there are spells, after a crisis or when everything feels empty, when you stop washing for days and someone has to encourage you into the shower, and say how often that happens in a typical month. If there are times you should not be alone behind a locked bathroom door because of a risk of harming yourself, and someone checks on you, describe that too. If washing is not affected, say so.
Borderline personality disorder does not usually affect getting on and off the toilet or bladder and bowel control, so most people can honestly leave this one alone. If another condition you live with does affect it, describe that plainly here. An honest no on a question like this makes the rest of your form more believable.
Mention the days when you stay in the same clothes or nightwear because you cannot face getting dressed, and whether someone has to prompt you to change. Say how often that happens in a typical week and what happens on the days nobody is there to encourage you. If you can dress and undress without help on most days, say so.
When your emotions are running high you may take in only part of what is said, or hear criticism that was never meant. If someone who knows you has to go back over what a doctor, nurse or official told you and explain what they really meant, describe that and how often it happens. If you follow conversations normally once you are calm, be honest about it and keep the rest for the mixing with people question.
BPD does not usually affect reading itself, so answer honestly. If official letters set off so much distress that you cannot take them in, and someone else has to read them and explain what they want, describe that and how often it happens. Keep this about understanding written information rather than eyesight.
Spending sprees and gambling sprees are recognised parts of BPD, so if you spend money you need on impulse when your emotions are high, describe what has happened, the debts or missed bills that followed and who now holds your cards or checks your account. Explain whether you can manage everyday shopping and change but not bills and planning ahead, because that difference matters. If you budget without help, say so.
Most people with BPD can plan and follow a route, so be honest if that is you. What can count is overwhelming distress that stops you leaving home, or needing someone with you when you travel because there is a real risk of you harming yourself when you are in crisis. Say how often it happens, who goes with you and what your care plan or crisis team has said about it.
This question is only about physically standing and walking, and BPD does not usually affect that, so give an honest distance. If you have a separate physical condition that limits your walking, describe it here. Any distress about going out belongs at the journeys question instead.
The tips above are general pointers. Your paid form gives you a full, ready-to-copy answer for all 12 activities, written from your exact conditions, medication, aids and bad days, not a general example. This is a worked example for borderline personality disorder; yours is written for you. £99.99 one-off.
This is a worked example, not a script. It shows one honest way a person with borderline personality disorder might describe their bad days, so you can see the level of detail and the plain wording that assessors are trained to look for. Please do not copy it word for word. Your own answers should reflect your BPD, your worst and most common days, the triggers, crises and warning signs that are real for you, the person who actually supports you and the help you need or go without, because that is what the assessment is about and that is what makes an answer ring true.
Notice that not every activity has to be claimed. Being honest about what BPD does not change makes the difficulties you do describe more believable, so there is no need to stretch every question. If you would rather start from your own words, tell us about your health and we will write your answers from your own conditions, in the same first-person style, ready for you to read, edit and copy onto your PIP2 claim form or AR1 review form.
Writing about crises, self-harm or overdoses can stir up a lot. Take it in short sessions, ask someone you trust to sit with you if that helps and use the contacts in your own crisis plan if you need them. Samaritans can be called free on 116 123, any time, day or night.
An example shows the shape of a good answer. FillMyPIP writes answers from your own conditions, medication, aids and bad days. See one activity of your own form written free at www.fillmypip.co.uk.
Guidance only, not legal or medical advice. Not affiliated with the DWP. Karol Slusarczyk t/a Benefits Expert, ICO registered (ICO:00014179042).
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