Someone I know used to claim she has BPD. She's actually built quite a following around it, has a blog about it, even gives advice on medication, treatment etc., even though she's not a medical professional. Then recently she mentioned she actually does not have an official BPD diagnosis, only "symptoms of BPD", which is "pretty close". 

Also, this girl's friend also started claiming she has BPD, even though she lives in a  country where BPD is not an official diagnosis at all, because the DSM-5 is not used there.  

 I've read a couple of books on BPD and from what I understand at the moment you can get an official diagnosis if you exhibit 5 out 9 main symptoms. If you exhibit 4, you don't count as someone with BPD anymore (even if your life is still screwed). 

Now, I don't want to devaluate anyone's struggles, but I really wanted to ask: do you feel like someone is justified in claiming they have a BPD when it's not, or can't be, officially diagnosed? Can BPD be viewed as a spectrum?