My therapist told me I am a mild case of BPD because she didn't notice I had it. She diagnosed be as histrionic. I remember when I was feeling suicidal last November I informed some friends and asked them to check in on me. And my therapist said I had done it for attention. I remember getting very angry and upset about that. Because to some degree yes it was for attention, but I was honestly suicidal and I wanted my friends to help keep me safe. But to her I was doing it to get attention and I guess she thought I wasn't serious. Despite my history of suicidal ideation and behavior. So I got hit with histrionic, especially since I dressed alternative and had blood red hair. Funny, that when I dyed my hair brown, and stopped dressing punk, my personality disorder magically disappeared. Sorry. I'm a little bitter about this.
I was punk for over a decade. I got told I'm doing it for attention and too old, so I stopped and lost what little sense of identity I had just to counter the fact I was "histrionic".
Anyway, I'm reading that book about BPD and identify with EVERYTHING. Suddenly my behavior and feelings are making so much sense. Just because a decade ago I got a good handle on my self-harm behavior/impulses doesn't mean I'm not BPD. It just means I successfully fight the urge to hurt myself. And trust me. The urges are there. They never go away. But I don't lash out at random. I'm like...a quiet BPD. As the book said, BPD is different for everyone. It may be mild compared to other people, but its still a really big problem.
Other people don't get the sensitivity. What its like to go without validation your whole life. The abuse. Actually being abandoned. People with this disorder HAVE experienced traumatic abandonment in some form. So it isn't all in our heads and I get so angry when people say it is in our head. People say that. "Oh, that's not really abandonment..." Its like yes. Yes it is. Maybe to them it wouldn't be, but everyone experiences things differently. I get so angry over this though. So many can't fathom what I went through, and what I go through on a daily basis.
But there is an end to BPD. You can recover from it. That gives me hope. I'm really looking forward to doing DBT.
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Be uniquely you, because you are a beautiful person regardless of whatever diagnosis you have.
Bipolar Type II with Psychotic Features
PTSD with Dissociative Features
Borderline Personality Disorder
ADD
Social Phobia
Creative Writer and Artist
Genderfluid
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