Bipolar 2 with Borderline Personality Traits

Hello. I am in the hospital. I'm out on a weekend pass right now. I slept a lot in the hospital. I can't sleep at home. It's 1 o'clock in the morning and I haven't really slept yet and I don't feel tired, but I am exhausted.

While in the hospital, my doc said that, although I don't have Borderline personality disorder, I have some of the traits from it. Is anyone in the same boat as me? What meds are you on? How do you function? This is my second stint off work in the last 6 months. How do you cope with that? It's very difficult financially.

I also have some obsessive thoughts. Not bad thoughts, I'll just get obsessed about something and can't stop thinking about it. Like right now, I really want a rabbit or a hamster. My husband says no. But I really want it.

Ugh. anyone? help!

I don't have Borderline personality disorder, but I wanted to welcome you to the group. I'm glad you found us.

In the same boat as you. I just don't have kids to deal with, fortunately. The best way that I learned to cope and handle all of this was to get a really good therapist that I see on a weekly basis to teach me how to. I also listened, heeded and followed the advice of my doctor and psychiatrist when it came to medications (not random and often misguided people from the internet). Working with stable people who don't have mental illnesses was my first step in the right direction. Following their advice to the letter was the second. Continuing to follow their advice for years was the third. Still following their advice was the forth.

As far as wanting to do impulsive things...the advice my therapist gave me was to wait and if it still made sense to do it tomorrow, then go ahead. Saved my butt a lot of times with that helpful hint. I also run ideas past people to get their thoughts and see just how idiotic I am actually being at the moment. A good therapist can work with you to identify ways of managing impulses, urges, how to evaluate needs and get through everyday life. The old saying of feed a man a fish vs. teach a man to fish... you need to learn how to fish. Learn how to fish from professionals.

In terms of medications, people here can give you their experiences with meds and such, but think about who you are getting advice from, me included. This group represents a very, very, very, small and quite frankly biased group of people when it comes to meds. Trust your doctors and the hundreds of thousands and thousands of other people not here who have had success on the meds they want you to try.

Sindey you give good advice. I always ask my wife and major ideas or actions, even as what to post on facebook to help keep me on track. I also use the scale to help make decsions. If I'm feeling a real intense emotion, sadness, anger, even joy etc. if it's over a 5 on a scale of 1 to 10 I don't make the decsion, I wait until I'm settled down.

I have traits but not bpd.

I have got Bipolar 2 and I think I have some Borderline traits too, but I haven't officially been evaluated for BPD. Only diagnosed with Bipolar II.

I've been diagnosed with bipolar, but my new therapist thinks I might have borderline instead. I feel like I can relate to both disorders. I wonder if the bipolar symptoms were traumatic enough to trigger the BPD symptoms (I had my first psychotic depression at 12; that kind of thing would mess up development for sure) or if the BPD symptoms made me more vulnerable to developing a mood disorder (I remember being very emotionally sensitive my entire life).

I don't know if I have bipolar, BPD, both, or neither. All I know is that my brain works differently, and that that is both a blessing and a curse.

Seek happiness.

I've been diagnosed with bipolar and traits of borderline, also. The meds help some. Therapy just makes it worse. I find what works for me is to seek out pleasant experiences to crowd out the bad memories. It's working really well for me. I feel content and cautiously optimistic about the future for the first time in about three decades. I feel hope and calm. Not hypomanic or manic. I'm looking forward to the rest of my life now. I feel my current lifestyle is sustainable.

My pet [a dog] has helped me so much! Why doesn't your partner want you to get a bunny or a hampster? A hampster is pretty low maintenance and can be very amusing. You can get these balls to put them in and let them roll around on the floor in it! My friend has a hampster. She loves it!

Pets are excellent!