Splitting (Psychology)

Splitting, also called black-and-white or all-or-nothing thinking, is a defense mechanism in which a person fails to integrate the positive and negative qualities of themselves or another person into one realistic, balanced view, instead seeing them as entirely good or entirely bad with no middle ground. The pattern is especially associated with borderline personality disorder, where it can produce unstable relationships marked by alternating idealization and devaluation of the same person. Because splitting removes the ability to hold shades of gray in mind at once, it can distort both self-perception and how a person relates to others.