Author: Deepti Yadav, Dr Neeta

Abstract: This paper investigates the causal link between childhood trauma and the development of borderline personality disorder (BPD), as portrayed through the formal and thematic structures of 20th- and 21st-century English literary representations. By synthesising Marsha Linehan’s biosocial theory and Mary Zanarini’s multifactorial model with contemporary trauma theory, the analysis elucidates how early environmental invalidation triggers the structural instability of the "fragmented self" (Linehan, 1993; Zanarini, 1997). Moving beyond a broad thematic survey, the study anchors its micro-close reading in a stable theoretical frame to analyse how narrative techniques—such as temporal disjunction, unreliable narration, and somatic metaphors—reflect the cognitive and emotional dimensions of BPD, specifically within the context of Theory of Mind (ToM) deficits (Balaev, 2012). Crucially, the paper theorises that behaviours such as sadomasochistic behaviour are derivative consequences of childhood trauma, functioning as maladaptive re-enactments aimed at achieving mastery over past injury (Freud, 1920). By analysing a justified corpus of five major works, the report establishes the "trauma text" and the practice of scriptotherapy as mimetic equivalents to clinical realities of identity diffusion and emotion dysregulation (Plath, 1963; Kaysen, 1993).

Keywords: Borderline Personality Disorder, Childhood Trauma, Biosocial Theory, Narrative Identity, Fragmented Self, Literary Trauma Theory, Emotion Dysregulation, Sadomasochistic Behaviour, Scriptotherapy, Theory of Mind.

Article Info: Received: 11 Apr 2026; Received in revised form: 10 May 2026; Accepted: 14 May 2026; Available online: 17 May 2026

DOI: 10.22161/ijels.113.15