[sarahsweets]

I see here that BPD tends to be borderline personality disorder. But I have always referred to myself using BPDII or BPII. Is that a thing? Can BPD mean both or is it exclusive to the personality disorder. Just wonderin'

[Nammu]

I think in the medical world both are used . Here on PC BP = bipolar and BPD = borderline, it's been that way for years. I think it's just to avoid confusion.

BPD is an abbreviation for Borderline Personality Disorder. I understand how/why people might think it means bipolar disorder, but officially bipolar disorder's abbreviation is BP. The only alternative accepted abbreviation for bipolar disorder is BPAD (Bipolar Affective Disorder).

Though many people misuse BPD to mean bipolar disorder, it causes oodles of confusion. Obviously, there are times when people mistakenly use BPD for bipolar disorder and people just figure out that they used the wrong abbreviation. But if out of nowhere you said you have "BPD" to a doctor or other mental health professional, they would think you have Borderline Personality Disorder, or would ask for clarification because they might also realize that people make a mistake with that abbreviation.

If in doubt, google BPD and see what you come up with on medical sites.

As far as "allowed" to call bipolar disorder something other than its official name or abbreviations, you can call it whatever you want: BPMFer, BPHELL, or anything else. Actually, the latter two might be less confusing than calling bipolar disorder BPD. If you call it something like GEORGE, people might really scratch their heads. It would need to come with a explanatory footnote, or people would think you are a major-league fan of the Loony Tunes, like I obviously am. [There is an episode that may ring a bell to other fans.]

BPD = Borderline Personality Disorder

I've never seen the acronym BPD used by a professional to mean "bipolar," which means using BPD as an acronym for "bipolar" is a mistake there. So like BirdDancer said, you would confuse a doctor or other mental health professional if you said BPD when you meant bipolar.

See this: List of medical abbreviations: B - Wikipedia

The abbreviations for Bipolar used are: BD, BPAD, BAD.

And: Abbreviations - Treatment for Bipolar Disorder in Adults: A Systematic Review - NCBI Bookshelf

Says BD.

A good habit would be to use BP, BD, BPAD, or BAD when describing bipolar disorder so that you don't make the mistake of saying BPD to a doctor, for example. But I mean... this is a support site where we seek help for symptoms, not labels, so I don't think it really matters in that regard.

I will say though... if someone in this forum says "BPD," I realize they mean bipolar disorder, not Borderline Personality Disorder, but if they say "BPD" anywhere else, I'm going to assume they mean Borderline Personality Disorder. Though if someone writes "I have BPD II," then I'm going to think they mean bipolar 2. Similarly, "BPD I" would suggest bipolar 1.

[fern46]

Bipolar = BAD. This made me laugh

[sarahsweets]

I wanted to follow up and say that I hope I didmt lead anyone to think that Bipolar people need a special acronym or need to hijack the one used for BPD. I was just curious because until a few years ago I was uneducated about the differences and assumede that the letters B.P.D. were just for bipolar disorder-because I knew nothing of personality disorders. I wanted to apologize if I trivialized or made anyone feel margionalized by my questions regarding the acronym BPD. I tend to use BPII for myself.

Originally Posted by sarahsweets

I wanted to follow up and say that I hope I didmt lead anyone to think that Bipolar people need a special acronym or need to hijack the one used for BPD. I was just curious because until a few years ago I was uneducated about the differences and assumede that the letters B.P.D. were just for bipolar disorder-because I knew nothing of personality disorders. I wanted to apologize if I trivialized or made anyone feel margionalized by my questions regarding the acronym BPD. I tend to use BPII for myself.

In my opinion, you didn't trivialize or made anyone feel marginalized.

Originally Posted by bluebicycle

In my opinion, you didn't trivialize or made anyone feel marginalized.

I agree with bluebicyle. I hope my post didn't make you feel that way.

[*Beth*]

I've used BPD to mean Borderline Personality Disorder and BD for Bipolar disorder. I'm going to start using BP from now on; it's less confusing.