Time Magazine has a really good article out called "The Mystery of Borderline Personality Disorder," and it explores the intricacies of this poorly understood illness.

There does appear to be some overlap between many of the personality traits of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and people with binge/purge behaviors. Some clinicians freely make the BPD diagnosis, which may or may not be ultimately true. While a person is malnourished and engaging in ED behaviors, it's impossible to tell which actions are driven by a starved brain and which by BPD.

Regardless, one of the key therapies for BPD--indeed, the only evidence-based treatment for the illness--is now being used to help treat eating disorders. Dialectical Behavioral Therapy is based on four core modules: mindfulness, emotion regulation, interpersonal effectiveness, and distress tolerance. While the evidence base is pretty strong for DBT as a treatment for BPD, it is growing for eating disorders. Indeed, many residential treatment centers incorporate DBT into their treatment programs (more or less).

The article is very well written and non-judgemental, and I love seeing how science is opening people's eyes to both the illness itself and into possible treatments. But the best part of the article is a quote from Marsha Linehan, the developer of DBT- a quote I wish was just as embraced by the ED world:

It's important to note that Linehan doesn't just practice tough love with her patients; she also tells them she knows they are hurting and doing the best they can. She emphasizes that she believes in them even though many therapists have tossed them aside. "Clients cannot fail," she says. "But both treatment and a therapist can fail."
(emphasis mine)