I am taking a class right now that focuses primarily on diagnosis and treatment of personality disorders. The instructor's attitude about it is pretty hard to take sometimes. He started off by saying that we really don't treat personality disorders because people are not going to change who they are, and personality disorders become part of the personality. He says that we treat symptoms, particularly symptoms of the many disorders that tend to co-occur along with personality disorders, such as depression, anxiety, substance abuse and addiction, etc. And we can teach people how to cope a little bit better.

I asked him point blank whether anyone ever recovers from a personality disorder, when he made a statement about ah historical figure (Jackie Kennedy) who was pretty dependent but later in life had some significant achievements. He said that because of what she did later in life, she probably didn't actually have dependent personality disorder. So I guess that anyone who does recover never had the disorder in the first place, from his perspective. His answer to my question was that no, people do not recover from personality disorders. He said, "Once you have that dx, your life is pretty much going to suck." Then he said to be careful about diagnosing people with personality disorders.

I am not supposed to argue and contradict people, so I didn't point out that when we diagnose a disorder we don't give the person the disorder. We simply assign a description based on the symptoms that they already have. If you go to the doctor and he says that you have cancer, the doctor didn't give you cancer, right? How is mental health different?

Since I have been diagnosed with at least two personality disorders (dependent and avoidant), twice each even, and I would diagnose myself with BPD and OCPD since I also meet criteria for both of those, this teacher's attitude is difficult for me to take. Part of me wants to tell him that I have personality disorders, and although I am not "cured" yet, I am getting better. In other classes I have been pretty open about my own struggles, but I'm not feeling like I can trust this teacher.

I have discussed this a little with my T, and she offered "a more sophisiticated point of view." I think that I might be the only person she has diagnosed with a personality disorder, as she doesn't really like the concept of personality disorders in general. She asked how someone could have more than one personality disorder, yet many people meet the criteria for more than one of them. She said that recovering from personality disorders depends on the person being motivated to work really hard at it and change the way that they do things, think about themselves, ets. (not a direct quote). I like that better, because there is hope if we can change, and someone believes that we can.

Some of you have gotten the idea that T is harsh with me and that some of her approaches are more harmful than helpful. This is the difference though, and why I stay with her and why I don't think that I could find anyone else who would be better for me. Sometimes she gets frustrated with me and has been ready to give up, but as long as she believes that I can recover, I have hope too. If she pushes hard, it is because she expects better than just managing the symptoms or coping with things right now. I think that her approach is pretty rare. My teacher's point of view is probably more common.

What do you think? Have any of you recovered from personality disorders? If you haven't yet, do you believe that you can? Do you want to change that much? Why or why not?

Rap