I don't think that anyone with BPD is "trapped" in trying to figure out what they want to do with their life. I know that I personally decided when I was nineteen what I wanted and I went in search of it. I'm not saying that BEFORE this I didn't angst and struggle with what I wanted to do. I just wanted to weigh in with the concept that not all people with BPD struggle with life/career directions.

It does happen and I am certainly sympathetic and supportive of people with BPD who struggle with this issue. I just wanted to say that many of us know from an early age what we want to do and what we want to study and get certified in! I know personally that my parents were set on me being a nurse once I mentioned that as a possiblilty (it was a silly grasp on my part because a classmate mentioned that she was going to nursing school and I knew that my parent's expected higher training from me). I went for a month and KNEW immediately that nursing was not my "gig", but my parent were set on me being a nurse because they viewed it as an end goal . No amount of convincing of this fact had any affect on my parents. At the time, I told my parents that I wanted to continue on in school but that I wanted a four year degree in psychology and English. I knew so clearly that this is what I wanted. My parents denied this and told me that I "needed to finish what I started". I know now that it was because they loved me and wanted me to have a career. They wanted me to live beyond when they died! How sweet and parental is that???? They had no knowledge to base their decision on in regard to how I was going to survive as a four year college student. Hey, they had to base it on how I did as a high school student. . . and to be honest, I was pretty poor. It wasn't until my adolescent brain matured and moved on that it saw the need to do better! I did what they wanted and I got the degree and then I used that to go on and get the bachelors and master's degree in the fields that I wanted. But it always bothered me that I wasn't able to make my own decision OR I wasn't strong enough to assert mysef in regard to my own career. I think that happens to many individuals with BPD . ... as many as those who have no idea what they want to do. It's a terrible dilemia!