[rainbow8]

My T said I was ready to terminate therapy last year. I asked if I was cured, and she said there is no cure for personality disorders, but I can (and have) improved the quality of my life. Is this still the accepted belief, that BPD can never be cured, even with DBT?

[Jewels]

I would recommend that you read the book Get Me Out of Here by Rachel Reiland. She was a former BPD patient, and is no longer BPD. It is actually a good book, and she gives a very detailed account of her life while working on eliminating BPD from her life.

Yahna

[ECHOES]

I don't know about a cure. I read 'get me out of here' and it ended when it ended and I often wonder what the rest of her life was like.

For me, I think I would like the support of therapy forever. At least that's my thought right now, having just been diagnosed a couple of years ago after many many years of not being in the kind of therapy that I need. My therapy isn't like rachael reiland's either, it is more supportive. But then I'm older and I act in rather than out; she was young and acted out frequently.

My therapy is for support and growth and to help me manage the intense internal emotional storms, to be able to experience emotional regulation, and just a lot of issues.

We all have different needs. Some need help to grow so they can hold a job and enjoy being self-supportive. Others need help to grow so they can stay out of jail. Still others want help to grow to change family relationships. So many things are affected by how we function and BPD interferes with those things.

To me the cure is feeling better. Most of my life is past me, but I am still here and I want to feel better and enjoy the things I enjoy and feel like I belong in the world.

[Michah]

I agree with Echoes......I bucked that idea from a young age......that I would have this for life.

I don't know about a cure, but once you stop searching frantically for an end point, you start living in the moment. I, after 15 years, know this disorder like the back of my hand.......it is like an endearing, petulant and sometimes dangerous friend. I give it a hug, tell it to observe boundaries and let it know who is boss.

I would be loathe now, to even entertain the idea, that it will be completely gone. As much as it has destroyed me, it has also saved my life. It is in me, not of me........I often give it a pat on the head and say, "Now, Now, be good".

I am not phased about the idea of occasionally seeking help through my life, borderline is not the only thing that brings people back to the therapists office.

In stillness........

[rainbow8]

Jewels: Thank you. I loved Get Me Out of Here.
So she didn't meet the criteria at all, in the end?

I think what I really was asking is: Does my T know what she's talking about, or not? I would love to have the support of therapy forever, but it just makes me too needy, as I discussed in my thread in the psychotherapy forum.

ECHOES: I like that. The cure is feeling better. I still want "something"; I don't know what, so I guess I'm not better.

Michah: My T said I'd have to live with it, like my allergies. I just felt very bad when I asked if she thought I still met the criteria, and she said there's no cure for personality disorders. I don't know why I thought she'd say I didn't meet the criteria any more. I'm just disappointed. I've had 15 years of therapy with different Ts., and I was all right for about 10 years when I had no therapy at all. I function pretty well, but debating about going on meds for depression. I've never been on meds. I just wish I felt happier, but maybe it's because I am too introspective.

[ECHOES]

I don't know about a cure, but once you stop searching frantically for an end point, you start living in the moment.

Micah, I love this

rainbow8, I understand wanting more. There is this hole that no matter how much better I feel, I still can't seem to fill it, patch it, make it go away.
I wonder for me if it is my silly notion of wanting to go back and get what I wanted then and still crave today, to be accepted and loved just as I am.

[rainbow8]

ECHOES, everyone, even without a diagnosis, wants to be loved and accepted as they are. I know "normal" people struggle with this too. So, why is it so much harder for some of us? Why do we crave love so much? Why DON'T people accept and love us as we are, are DO they and we just don't see it?

Micah is right. If we live in the moment, everything falls into place.

[Starbuck1128]

One thing I know from experience, and my T confirms is that BPD is one of the very few dxs that get WAY better with age. Now that I am 50,it is barely there. So, there is hope! The only drawback is the aging part. But, then at least you get to claim you are "wise". LOL

[Pup]

I personally think there is no cure, but the symptoms can be treated and things can get better.

[Michah]

Originally Posted by rainbow8

ECHOES, everyone, even without a diagnosis, wants to be loved and accepted as they are. I know "normal" people struggle with this too. So, why is it so much harder for some of us? Why do we crave love so much? Why DON'T people accept and love us as we are, are DO they and we just don't see it?

Micah is right. If we live in the moment, everything falls into place.

rainbow, if you can, have a read of a thread I started on here a little while ago
it is called "Borderline Pride". Tell me what you think.......

[Martina]

I don't think there is a cure. I wish there was!

I view my illnesses a lot like Diabetes, or Asthma, or some other chronic illness. It doesn't go away, you're born with it, you'll die with it. But it can be managed well. A diabetic can eat chocolate cake and not give a dang about their sugars, or they can test regularly and eat a balanced diet. Just as a Borderline can try to go it alone and never get therapy, or they can see a therapist and possibly take meds and do what they can to manage their condition.

So basically, I think it can be well-controlled....but not cured.