am lost and confused!

Hi guys, I haven't been around in a while so I feel a bit of naff person for asking for help when I haven't been around to even offer any myself. I'll try and keep it as brief as I can and would really appreciate any input.

I was diagnosed with bipolar almost 3 yrs ago and have accepted this and tried to get on with my life with little success as I've not been able to work for 3 yrs mainly due to anxiety and panic attacks which has led me to be unable to leave the house much especially on my own. I started cbt a few weeks ago and in tuesday when I went my psychologist dropped a bombshell. She thinks I have bpd and so we went through a questionnaire and it appears that I have moderate to severe symptoms of bpd. I'm not due to see her until July 9th now because she is away and so now I feel like I'm in limbo and rather confused, not knowing how to feel or what to do. I don't even know where I belong on here any more. I'm really rather distressed. I really hope some one can help in any way. I would be very grateful. Thanks for reading!!

On this forum, you belong wherever you feel comfortable.

I've got an appointment on July 9th too!! But it's a phone one because the psychologist won't be in tis town for July or August.

BPD and Bipolar have a fair amount in common and they often get misdiagnosed as each other. If you've been seeing this psychologist for all 3 years, then I would try (hahahahah right, gotta love that one) to not worry about it too much because she probably knows you pretty well by now and only wants the very best for you.

Read through the threads in the BPD forum, you might find that you have a lot in common with people there! And keep on posting in here too, it's all about comfort.

Thank you! I've only been seeing her for about a month haven't had much therapy in the last 3 yrs to be honest just sort of been dragging myself through life as best I can! With little success if I'm truthful. I did post a thread in the bpd forum but haven't had any replies yet. I think they think I don't belong there which is distressing to think. Thank you again for your reply

They wouldn't think that I'm sure! You should try reading and joining in on conversations that are already happening - I have learned looooads about myself that I knew but never connected at ALL with bipolar... until reading on here that so many others have the exact same things go on. You ccan always be a lurker for a little bit!

Yeah, if you've only been seeing her for 3 months then it's a bit harder to trust. But still, others can see what we can't so it is at least worth exploring with her! Either way - you'll end up either having a new diagnosis which will hopefully help you even more, or through time you and your psychologist will discover that bipolar is more accurate and you'll have still learned loads more about yourself and about how this all affects you.

It's possible to have both bpd and bipolar. If you are comfy on this board stay here. Please don't worry about asking for help here, we don't bite . It's an ask for help when you need it, give advise when you can board. So don't worry about that. Welcome back to the board.

Thank you both. I don't feel as bad as before. I've always felt comfy on this board and felt like I fit I'm just not sure now. Both my best friend ans her mum think I have bpd I'm just not sure. Its the waiting till I next see my psychologist that's going to drive me mad. I'm not a fan of routine change lol. I might just hang around both boards and see how I feel. Thanks again guys.

I like to think of bipolar and bpd as cousins, since they are so similar. Plus, lots of people have both. Pretty common, actually. I really don't think there is much routine change but the CBT will help with BPD I do believe. I mean, mood cycling you've got that already, and if they want to give you meds it's the same ones for bipolar really. I mean, honestly, it's just another star on your score card. (Yes, a star! No gloomy stickers are allowed here.)

I mean, BPD and bipolar are so much the same.... I wouldn't worry. In my case, see, I supposedly have schizoid and I have no idea what the heck that comes from, but every time I do one of those tests for it, sure enough it pops up with a really high score... so.... Meh, whatever.

If you look at the DSM for BPD and bipolar you will see that they are quite different. Bipolar is about moods and BPD is about disturbed relationships.

I see, I don't think my relationships are disturbed. My moods on the other hand are terrible. I'm more inclined to think that I have bipolar and thought this long before I was dx'd. I don't know, I don't know what to think *sigh*

I agree with this. If you compare the DSM criteria for both, they are very very different. The tricky part are the moods, because if someone changes moods frequently, and has intense moods, it can seem to be either ultra rapid cycling bipolar or BPD. But that's where the similarities end (except for what is triggering moods, but it's hard to be aware of this sometimes).

For BPD, all the rest of it has to do with interpersonal relationships. There's a long list, if you look it up, of characterisitics/critera of interpersonal issues related to BPD. I think this is why it can be hard for pdocs to make the distinction because they often don't get to know the patient well enough to know how they react to/behave in the context of interpersonal relationships. It takes time, which pdocs often don't have, and a willingness on the part of the patient to talk about their relationships (and may understandably not feel comfortable doing so with a pdoc) and catching someone during a crisis in the context of a relationship (since appointments tend to be few and far between, this may not happen, or only rarely).

I've read that some pdocs do not like diagnosing PD's in part because they don't get to know the pt well enough to make such a determination, and feel more comfortable treating mood issues, which can be medicated, which do respond (presumably) to the treatment they offer, as most pdocs these days do not do therapy.

As I often say, bipolar, I think, is a very tricky diagnosis to make and sometimes people are diagnosed BP then rediagnosed BPD and vice versa, but overall, I don't think it's because the two are similar; I think the confusion lies in mood instability; the rest is very different.

Read both there are a lot of other good sites on here to post on and learn things. One of them I think its called general social chat at the beginning of the forum is has a lot of fun stuff to chat about sometimes. You can post silly questions that really have nothing to do with anything. Kinda nice to get a break sometimes

Thanks guys, I'll take a look and see if I can work out where I fit in if anywhere. The waiting for my next appointment is driving me bankers! Oh well nothing I can do about that, thanks again for all ya input

So I've looked at the DSM criteria for both BPD and bipolar and it appears that I could possibly have both as I show characteristics of both. I think I'm just in denial and don't want to admit that my psychologist might be right about me having BPD. I don't know why though, I guess I just want to be 'normal' whatever that is.