Live_freely318: "I'm tired of feeling hurt and depressed all the time."
(From post #10. Sorry not in proper quoting format. Missed it in gathering them, and am on phone, so would be a big re-do.)


(Re: borderline criteria)


I agree about going in and delving more into your symptoms. It might prove a very helpful thing. I think you're right in your initial post in questioning things.
I just read back over the whole thread again. Honestly? I don't see anything that indicates bipolar. Everything you describe points to borderline. I'd recommend asking your provider why they think bipolar. But even before that, I have to ask... Who diagnosed you? The only term I saw was "doctor". Was it a psychiatrist? Or a GP?

Above, I've pulled together quotes from your posts to show things that reinforce my thinking BPD. (In addition to initial post.)
I'd have done the same for BP, but (see above --couldn't find any).

Same disclaimer, I can't diagnose. But these are things you might want to bring up with your provider (you might even want to print out the thread for refererence). All the stuff's in the personal interaction/reactive/emotion realm and has been so since as long as your mother can remember, which shows an on-going pervasive pattern-- which is a key indicator in BPD.

Key indicators for BP would be episodic nature of symptoms and prolonged shifts in energy levels. For me, those are couple of the really big differences between the two. People can get so focused on the "mood" thing. But there's so much more to it.

Good luck and I hope you get some relief in getting it sorted out. It can be a helpful to know what you're fighting so as to be able to arm yourself with the best and most effective strategies for it.

(p.s. On the last quote, just want to say that I don't think you're mean or faking it or that would be any kind of symptom, but the part about the frustration in the meds not seeming to help. That factor is far trickier because... For the most part, for people with BP, meds will help -- though it may take awhile to get a good one/combo. With BPD, meds seldom help -- though for some, they seem to -- so, yeah, tricky to call that indicator. But it's pretty fair to say (with reservations) that it doesn't "put any points" towards thinking BP, solely on account of the statistics leaning against that likelihood in regards to response to medication. It's just something of lesser weight in evaluating the symptoms as a whole. Hope that makes sense.)