Q. I was reading about borderline personalities, and after seeing some of your responses to questions, decided to ask one too.

I am a 35 y.o. single male, who was born with Klinefelter Syndrome. I have had a preoccupation with, what I have always considered, self-mutilation. I don't recall when I started some of my behaviors, but others go way back in time.

Here are some of the things I do: pull my eyelashes out, until the eyelid is bare, pull eyebrows out. sort of like thinning them out, pull out nostril hairs, and chew the skin off my fingers and nails until there's too much pain to go further. When I was younger, grade school years, I pulled my hair.

Thoughts of suicide have never been very prevalent in my mind. Are the things I do to myself considered forms of self-mutilation? They seem to occur in cycles, at least the one for eyelashes. I'm currently in one now, and if an answer isn't found, it will occur in another six months or so.

A. Both symptoms you describe have their own diagnostic arenas, and are related most likely, but not necessarily to BPD. Hair pulling is called trichotilomania, and can be treated with a number of medications. Likewise, the nail biting can be treated with the same medications.

There is a trichotilomania foundation in California, and they have a website to query for referrals for treatment. That is your best bet. It does not sound like you have BPD.