Firstly, to be clear, I'm not attempting to self diagnose myself with this post. I'm pursuing testing with my doctor, therapist, etc, but they have agreed that it's highly likely that I qualify for BPD. My girlfriend actually has been diagnosed officially, and we are very much about as similar as two people could be. 

However, this is not the point of my post. I wanted to know if it's a common experience among BPD sufferers to have a period of time where they attempt to purge emotion from themselves, in order to avoid the feelings. Similar to a whole "conceal, don't feel" thing with Elsa in Frozen, but obviously not exactly on target. 

I ask because this is a shared experience between myself and my girlfriend, but I have yet to meet another who has done this, or considered it. Others that I have met don't attempt to numb themselves completely in order to avoid pain or inefficiency, but my girlfriend and I have both done this, with specific memories of it as early as 10 years old. 

So has anyone else had this experience? If so, why? And how did you get out of that mode of thinking?