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Jun 29, 2013, 02:56 PM
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Member Since: Mar 2013
Location: USA
Posts: 1,486
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Anneinside
If you look at the DSM for BPD and bipolar you will see that they are quite different. Bipolar is about moods and BPD is about disturbed relationships.
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I agree with this. If you compare the DSM criteria for both, they are very very different. The tricky part are the moods, because if someone changes moods frequently, and has intense moods, it can seem to be either ultra rapid cycling bipolar or BPD. But that's where the similarities end (except for what is triggering moods, but it's hard to be aware of this sometimes).
For BPD, all the rest of it has to do with interpersonal relationships. There's a long list, if you look it up, of characterisitics/critera of interpersonal issues related to BPD. I think this is why it can be hard for pdocs to make the distinction because they often don't get to know the patient well enough to know how they react to/behave in the context of interpersonal relationships. It takes time, which pdocs often don't have, and a willingness on the part of the patient to talk about their relationships (and may understandably not feel comfortable doing so with a pdoc) and catching someone during a crisis in the context of a relationship (since appointments tend to be few and far between, this may not happen, or only rarely).
I've read that some pdocs do not like diagnosing PD's in part because they don't get to know the pt well enough to make such a determination, and feel more comfortable treating mood issues, which can be medicated, which do respond (presumably) to the treatment they offer, as most pdocs these days do not do therapy.
As I often say, bipolar, I think, is a very tricky diagnosis to make and sometimes people are diagnosed BP then rediagnosed BPD and vice versa, but overall, I don't think it's because the two are similar; I think the confusion lies in mood instability; the rest is very different.
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