I am not a mental health professional but have been around the block a few times (first diagnosed incorrectly 24 years ago and then finally correctly 4 years ago) and I would like to offer this: generally speaking, the only time you are hospitalized is when you are an immediate danger to yourself or others. Labels notwithstanding, you can have eight diagnosese and if you are stable or even not feeling exactly stable but are not in immediate danger of harming yourself or another person, they will send you on your way, perhaps with some new medication and a doctor's appointment.

The very best way you can help yourself is to be honest in your responses to questions. If you have thought about harming anyone, including yourself, that's not necessarily a reason to lock you up. But if you have a specific plan laid out, that's the clincher.

Having said that, the trouble with a dx of BPD is that one of the symptoms is impulsiveness. That's what makes it tricky to treat. An impulsive person will suddenly, without forethought, do harm. Also, BPD differs from Bipolar in that there is usually a factor of abandonment; the BPD person often can't stand to feel they're alone. This may not be something they observed in your first hospitalization. The same is true of the switch from Major Depression to Bipolar. My manic episodes were not identified for 20 years! That's because I was never psychotic.

I guess what I'm trying to express is that, yes, I understand that labels suck, but they also dictate treatment goals.