[Lucy300]

Hi, Im new here and very confused.
I was with a psychiatrist on Monday and she told me I had Emotional Instability, Obsessive thoughts and Anxiety. Does this mean I have Borderline Personality Disorder?
I don't act out in any way, Im actually the opposite, I keep everything inside and shout and scream at myself in my head for not being strong enough to tell how I feel. Im so scared that if I say something that they will leave me or wont talk to me. I hate confrontation as I can't cope when someone argues with me, I just fall to pieces. I want to be on my own so that I don't have to think about keeping who Im with happy but when Im on my own I get anxious, paronoid, sad and generally don't know what to do with my time. Am I suppose to sit down, go for walk, clean??? What do I do???
Im so confused. Any help would be great.
Thanks
Lucy x

[Evil Schnoodle]

Lucy- welcome to this board. The things you mentioned seem very familiar to me , and I would guess also to other members on this board. That said, only a qualified professional can make this or any other psychiatric diagnosis. I would encourage you to have this same discussion with your psychiatrist (" last week you told me I had emotional instability...this has been on my mind all week...do you think that I have BPD? If so, what do you recommend for treatment?")
In terms of coping, or distress tolerence skills, there are many things you can do, whether or not you 'officially' have BPD. One source is a website called dbtselfhelp.com. You can read about the skills ,practice them, talk to your therapist about them - and see if they help you. There are many other books and websites as well.
Welcome, and good luck to you.

[tryingtobeme]

HI Lucy

Well, I have BPD and the feelings and thoughts you have, I have them too. The thing is that so many of those could be other disorders also. I would certainly discuss this more with you pdoc. Remember a diagnosis, is only a diagnosos. The main thing is controling these emotions you are having.

If it was me, I like to do my research. You can find all sorts of info out there including BPD. There are even the traits of BPD that you can check out. But I urge you to talk to your pdoc also.

[lastyearisblank]

((((Hugs))))) that must have been hard to hear and it does not sound like she cushioned the blow very well for you. Where did you get the idea you have bpd?

I've been diagnosed with everything from PTSD to depression to anxiety to yes, bpd "traits." From the outside many of the people who know me well say I look normal. Honestly it is in the eye of the beholder.

I hope you can get some support here on pc. This is a great board for that.

[Atypical_Disaster]

Obviously, I cannot tell you whether or not you have BPD because I'm not a professional and I don't know you. But, it does sound like even if you don't have the full-blown disorder that you may have some traits of it. Another important thing to remember is that not everyone with BPD manifests the symptoms in the same way. If you talk to ten people diagnosed with BPD, you will get ten different perspectives about the disorder.

Have you asked your psychiatrist about the possibility of BPD?

I hope that you are doing okay... take care of yourself.

[beautifuldisaster78]

One thing to add to all the good responses thus far- there is something called a quiet borderline. Not as an official separate diagnosis but more as a way of it manifesting itself. I am one of those (most the time! Kinda lost control the last couple days!) but most the time the rage is often held in and later taken out on myself and those around me would never even know anything was wrong. Definitely ask your doc about it if you think it might fit you, but don't be too anxious to rush into a label. Even if it's not an official diagnosis I think reading through some of these forums (both here and the depression and other ones) you'll find a lot of comfort knowing your not alone in your thoughts. There are others who think very similar and that is comforting! Best of luck to you.

[Lucy300]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm a bit better now as I've stopped obsessing about my hospital visit last week.
The nurse will be calling to my home on Friday so I can a good talk with her too.
Thanks guys
Lucy x

[Atypical_Disaster]

I'm glad you're feeling a bit better now. I hope that you can get some reassurance about all of this soon. Take care. xx

[Perna]

Originally Posted by Lucy300

Hi, Im new here and very confused.
I was with a psychiatrist on Monday and she told me I had Emotional Instability, Obsessive thoughts and Anxiety. Does this mean I have Borderline Personality Disorder?

Hi, Lucy300, welcome to PsychCentral (PC). I'd stay with having "emotional instability, obsessive thoughts, and anxiety" and not try to lump it all together; yes, people with borderline personality disorder can have those things but have to have a couple specific others to get a diagnoses of that disorder. That your psychiatrist told you those three issues he saw for you instead of telling you you had borderline personality disorder is actually kind of a blessing as it sounds like three issues you can work on rather than just a "Borderline Personality Disorder" name that is pretty meaningless in and of itself?

[lotusflames]

none of us can diagnose you.

if you want an answer, go back to your pdoc and ask!