[Tmac]

I was recently on the receiving end of a 302 (involuntary committal). I was away a little over 3 weeks. I already had PTSD and major depression but while put away I was also told I was Bipolar and Borderline personality disorder.

So my strange question is....Does anyone think they are over using the "labels" as I call them?

Hope this does not offend anyone I am just frustrated especially since they tried to put me away again a little over a week and a half ago. I have found out one thing and that is when asked about thoughts or feelings, keep them to myself or the cycle will keep happening, because they say things like when you have bipolar you do not have control over your thoughts and feelings. Well DUH of course my mood is all over the place if they put me away and then try to again. I feel like I am treading on very thin ice and if I breathe the wrong way they will try to hospitalize me again and they will use the titles to justify their attempts.

[thinker22]

In some cases, yes, they are overusing labels, such as ADD in children. That's not to say that a percentage of those dx'd don't actually have the condition.

I figure that the p-nurse I used to see thought I was borderline and just had major depression and she was baffled when none of the meds she gave me worked well...some actually made me worse, others were like placebos. Thing is, I don't idealize then demonize people. I always see both sides of the coin...like for example, the p-nurse: I don't hate her. I feel like she really tried, did her best, but she just didn't have the experience and knowledge to help me. My mate: I get annoyed when he's acting jealous or possessive, but all in all I love him. My best friend: and yes, I used to be clingy, but haven't been that way for many years. I call her and/or email her like 3-5 times a year and usually get no response until I write the "are you dead?" email. She's preoccupied. She has tons of friends. I get it. I don't devalue her. It hurts sometimes, but I love her as a person.

Okay, so here's my theory, if you had a lot of depression with silly/hyper/fidgety moods where people didn't recognize you as a child or adolescent, chances are it will develop into bipolar. It doesn't make you borderline or manipulative or whatever. You just have shifts in your brain patterns/chemistry. Can you have BPD on top of bipolar? I guess so. There are many overlaps in the two, but the main difference is Borderline has more mood shifts within the same day and like the above...you go from loving people to hating them and then back again. You can be a rapid cycling bipolar as well which looks similar to BPD. I have had 2 weeks of bizarre mania or hypermania with only one depressed spell one night. But prior to that I had a year and a half of non-stop depression. Last May '08 I had 3 weeks of mania/intense creativity/energy. You can see that this has little to do with my personality and everything to do with the way may brain lets me operate from time to time. (It's like, here you go, there's some happy weeks or months, enjoy it while you can because it needs to last for at least a year of the depression I'm about to sink you into).

The external world does trigger say my PTSD and can shift my mood, but overall episodes remain for long periods of time. Hopefully with the right meds that will be going away soon.

All this to say, you may just have PTSD and depression (my initial diagnosis last year) or you may have bipolar (depression under that heading) and PTSD. You may or may not be borderline in addition to the above. Go to the personality section and read about it. Sure, some of the personality disorders make you feel awful if you suspect you have them, but at least you can know what you're working on in therapy (like not behaving irrationally when you feel slighted by someone you have a long history with and normally love).

For all I know I may exhibit some BPD features, although I've learned to manage and control them by my logic. For me, bipolar and PTSD make the most sense. They explain the depression and creative/hyper/energetic periods and the PTSD explains why my whole body jerks when a bad memory flashes through my brain, some of the panic attacks, and why I see dark figures in my bedroom that I believe are trying to kill me sometimes at night.

So, I would read up on all of the things you were labeled and decide for yourself what best fits you and when you get a new therapist, explain why you think whatever is a better diagnosis and why the other makes no sense. I guess it's hard not to justify or defend yourself without sounding crazy, but try to be cold and rational about it when you talk to him or her.

Also, after my forced hospital trip (I was thinking irrationally and having tons of suicidal thoughts, admittedly), I was paranoid for 2 months that they were coming to take me away again. They can't read your thoughts. The county is typically too busy and stretched to the max on personnel, so you're fine so long as you don't behave erratically when outside of your home or in the presence of others who might call the hospital, or you yourself don't make bizarre phone calls or send suicidal emails. I had to learn that the hard way.

I think you're on the right path to getting well. It would help to do some research so you better know how to explain yourself to whoever you work with in the future. We're all here for you if you want to talk.

[ADHD1956]

I do think "labeling" is Over Used. Take Care!

[VickiesPath]

I am not a mental health professional but have been around the block a few times (first diagnosed incorrectly 24 years ago and then finally correctly 4 years ago) and I would like to offer this: generally speaking, the only time you are hospitalized is when you are an immediate danger to yourself or others. Labels notwithstanding, you can have eight diagnosese and if you are stable or even not feeling exactly stable but are not in immediate danger of harming yourself or another person, they will send you on your way, perhaps with some new medication and a doctor's appointment.

The very best way you can help yourself is to be honest in your responses to questions. If you have thought about harming anyone, including yourself, that's not necessarily a reason to lock you up. But if you have a specific plan laid out, that's the clincher.

Having said that, the trouble with a dx of BPD is that one of the symptoms is impulsiveness. That's what makes it tricky to treat. An impulsive person will suddenly, without forethought, do harm. Also, BPD differs from Bipolar in that there is usually a factor of abandonment; the BPD person often can't stand to feel they're alone. This may not be something they observed in your first hospitalization. The same is true of the switch from Major Depression to Bipolar. My manic episodes were not identified for 20 years! That's because I was never psychotic.

I guess what I'm trying to express is that, yes, I understand that labels suck, but they also dictate treatment goals.

[VickiesPath]

Sorry, I hit the wrong key. I had one more thing to add.

If you are afraid that you are being treated unfairly, you have rights. Get yourself a lawyer or a public defender. Don't let anyone railroad you into an involuntary admit if you think you are being treated unfairly.

[Trying & Caring]

I do have the dx of bipolar 1 (about 12 yrs. now after being misdiagnosed w/unipolar depression) & acute anxiety & ADD. But my therapist also has been exploring borderline--I have many of the symptoms, but asked her not to put that on the form due to the extreme stigma of borderline. Bipolar is bad enough as far as stigma. I do go to DBT that is primarily for borderline, but it is also useful for bipolar--a new book just out "The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook for Bipolar Disorder--Using DBT to Regain Control of Your Emotions & Your Life"