I'm also in the UK and have just seen my gp who is making a mental health referral for me with a question of bpd. However since coming here and realising there is so much stigma attached to this label I'm a bit unsure whether I want an official diagnosis of this on my medical records. I've been thinking about what I would gain from another diagnosis (on top of depression and gad) and it would partly be for validation of my experience and the fact that since connecting with the description of bpd symptoms I'm finally starting to make sense to myself in a way that I never have before. I also want to be able to better explain my crazy-making experience to my husband (and maybe other family members). And finally I feel that at this stage in my healing process I would benefit greatly from group therapy and believe I may be able to access this through a BPD diagnosis.

However I am also training as a person-centred therapist and am very way of the long-term impact of such a diagnosis on me professionally. Though there are obvious risks of such a label working against me in terms of 'employability' and 'stability', I also see potential for working as a therapist who has inside experience of dealing with mental health problems and what is possible for a client to gain through good therapeutic relationships.

The jury is still out on that one...

But I feel, like you do, that a label is only part of the picture and what work I do in therapy is the most important thing.

Phx.