You know, it's a shame that insurance needs a label to reimburse for therapy. These labels can be very damning. For instance, I knew someone with a BPD label that had a very hard time trying to get into the military. It can prevent you from careers in law enforcement, too. It's ridiculous. Most adolescents and young adults I work with are very high in borderline traits and it's just a phase but for the purposes of treatment they are slapped with a label (we can go on about the ethics of labeling an adolescent or young adult with a personality disorder but oh, it happens a lot!). Then, what about the age limit of psychological "adolescence" being pushed back to the late 20's/early 30's as a result of modernity and the changes in society? People act the way they do because they find it functional to an extent. A lot of problematic behavior can be taken care of with a non-enabling environment that forces the individual to adapt. Over time and with more responsibility and reinforcement for positive steps the person can come to lose, or manage, their problematic traits. But the label lingers over them and causes issues later in life. I wish the system was a different way and that the DSM-5 actually took the spectrum-based diagnostic method, but it stuck to categories instead. What to do about someone with traits of BPD, NPD, ASPD, and Avoidant PD for example? "****ed Up PD"? It's ridiculous, and dehumanizing.

Just an example, I knew a 26 year old woman that was very high in BPD, NPD, and histrionic traits and was I believe labeled with BPD. She was one of the most immature, irresponsible, arrogant and mean individuals I have met in my life, more than most people that I've known with a PD label. She couldn't hold down a job for a week without flipping out on coworkers or the manager and getting kicked out- her life was a complete rollercoaster of adolescent immaturity. It's not because of her BPD label. It's because her parents didn't give her the ***-kicking she needed. They enabled her behavior, caved in to her tantrums, and gave her money whenever she needed it to shut her up. Of course such a person would see no need to change. Pavlov's dog.

I like this thread a lot. For fellow PD's, don't let a label limit you. After all, what the **** do they know about your subjective experience. Take from it whatever helps you become a better person, and don't let it prevent you from doing anything positive for your life.