Borderline vs Bipolar!

Hi, I want to see if some of you already had a bipolar diagnostic before the Borderline one?

I'll explain: I have been treated for Bipolar for 5-6 yrs. My doctor refuse to sign for a psychotherapy reference, since he was telling me that my trouble was chemical and not related to my life.

So, for 5 yrs, I have became a 'Pill' taker. Every time I had fun, people around me use to tell me :' Have you take your pill's?'

If I was down because of my relationship with my girl friend, they used to ask me:'Have you take your pill's'

When I have tried to start playing golf, people asked me:' Have you take your pill's, you are surely on a n high...'

And etc... All my emotions, about anything, was related to :' Have you take your pill's'...

Since a couples of months, I am seeing a psychiatrist and he said that there is no bipolar sign in me, but a strong Post traumatized shock and without no doubt, a borderline personality...

The treatment is way different then the bipolar one that I used to have before, but I am still traumatized by the :'Only pill's can help you, your past doesn't have nothing to do with the emotions that you are feeling today...'

What is your experience with this?

(Sorry for the English, I am french speaker natively... )

Thanks for reading...

Pascal

Here the psychiatrist is a medication specialist also, but does not decide who enters into psychotherapy.

So his view is that this is just chemical. That's a common view of psychiatrists because dispensing pills is what they do.

But psychotherapy doesn't mean you are only talking about your past and it's relevance to your diagnosis. Therapy is about support and learning more about yourself (and often learning about the world around you, about others, and how we related in our world with others).

I also was treated for bipolar at one point, and just depression at another, and depression-with-anxiety at another. I read a lot and I do believe Borderline is the correct diagnosis and I'm fine with it, as fine as one can be. I am just reading "Borderline Personality Disorder Demystified" and can relate to so much in the book; the book suggests both therapy and medication. The author suggests that medication helps a person to be able to benefit more from the therapy.

The comments from others about whether you have taken your pills is a good reason to keep personal information like this private.

Can you enter into psychotherapy on your own, without the referral from the psychiatris?

ive been treated for both and yes the "have you taken your pill" thing has happened to me by anyone close to me i wish people would just stay out of it most of the time

I was Dxed as BP before I was Dxed w/ BPD.

I was first diagnosed with PND, the finally 4 years later it was BPD. Bipolar has never been mentioned.

I hate it when people ask if I've taken my meds. Usually want to give them a mouthful and slap around the head and say "WTF do you think?"

Hi all. Yeah idk i'm confused with the pdoc i saw- he told me i wasn't bp but wrote to my therapist i was bipolar 2. T and i have talked about borderline traits before i saw pdoc. T wants to know more on the quiet borderline cuz she is unaware of it and We're talking more on it now cuz i read more on bpd and i felt a weight lifted the day i read it. Like pieces of a puzzle being put together. I maybe bipolar on top with cycling mood swings they like to use that my family members are bipolar so That's me too. Idk last august i went to the county so i'm just entering this journey as many call it. Oh i haven't taken pdoc on his pills (or yet) cuz why put me on bp meds if i'm not then tell others i am. I thinking to see if i can see a different pdoc that will stick with what they tell me and what they tell t, even if just bp. i didn't like that at all what that pdoc did. But then like others say pdoc to prescribe pills so idk

I don't think it's quite right for previous pdoc tell you- your past doesn't have to do with your emotions now. My t would very much disagree as well. She keeps tellin me that and now go hand in hand in ways. Also if i was taking pills and ppl were like that some may have gotten a slap. That's rude for friends and family to ask have you taken your pills today. I'm sorry i wouldn't see that as supportive but instead take a pill and be happy sort of auitudet. I'm sorry That's just me and i miss things sometimes. Hopefully you don't see it that way.

I wish you all well and sorry my typin isnt good today hopefully that all makes some sense

I think it's very common for people that have BPD to initially be diagnoses with Bipolar. They have both have the "instability factor" and the diagnoses can be confused.
The easiest way to think of it is that Borderlines can go from elated to distraught to lived to peaceful in a period of hours. Bipolars generally change moods like that so quickly, unless of course the Bipolar person also has BPD which is possible.

I like how you explained that mustkeepjob. It makes it more confusing also cause they have "rapid cycling bipolar" too which is changing moods so quickly. Then also put psychosis with bipolar and that bpd has moments of "out of touch of reality" during stressful times and dissociation. It can very hard for a doctor to dx some one. I guess That's why we have to go in and tell them all that we can right. Which is easier said than done, or atleast for me. And also to have some one That's willing to listen and not so quick to put labels on.

Some people (including me, at times) believe that BD and BPD are really two manifestations of the same disorder. I read an article (here it is: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21379356) that suggests that cyclothymic temperament and mood reactivity connects BP-II with BPD and atypical depression. Jim Phelps, a psychiatrist specializing in bipolar, wrote this amazing article arguing that the differences are trivial:http://www.psycheducation.org/depression/borderline.htm

Overall, I think that borderline mood fluctuations are often due to social triggers (i.e. feeling suicidal and depressed because of a fight with a lover) whereas bipolar cycling is usually more random (feeling suicidal and depressed for no reason). Borderline individuals are also significantly more likely to engage in SI than people with bipolar.

I have a bipolar dx, but I sometimes wonder if I might really be a "quiet" borderline. Psych diagnosis definitely is more of an art than a science!

Well, for now I am being treated for Borderline with severe Post traumatic stress and dissociation. The Bipolar diagnostic is negative as per two new psychiatrist who worked on my case at the hospital. . .

The therapy is called DBT ( dialectic behavioral therapy ) and it sound pretty good for the BP.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialect...havior_therapy

It has been created specially for Borderline trouble.

Now I just have to remove this Label from my mind:

'It's just chemical, take your pill's and shut up',

and go on with this new therapy...

Thank to all of you for your comment, it make me feel more 'normal'

Good day to all of you...

Pascal xx

DBT worked for me. I did the full year, however....you're going to have to eventually face the demons...and I mean the outside issues that made you borderline. I have a feeling that i was always bipolar, and the abuse I suffered...while overwhelmed and depressed causing it to be worse...made me split. Poof! Borderline. I did the DBT without ever touching my feelings. I didn't even know what my feelings were, nor did I have words for them. I didn't know if I felt anxious, or overwhelmed, or depressed. I thought I was just hyper or wanted to lay down. Everyone used to say I was hyper active, and a bully. When I say everyone....I mean...my parents. I digress, what I'm saying is... do the DBT, figure out how to think, and then come back and figure out what the heck happened to make you lose your sense of self, and in my case froze me, and gave me inappropriate outburst of anger, with disordered thinking. For men, it doesn't usually freeze them, and makes them fight. Then, you can learn how to think through all that trauma. I finally have this awesome therapist, who isn't on my insurance, so I'm paying for it all myself...but...she has these little things...there is a little box, and it is connected to these two things that pulse in each one of your hands. The right one vibrates, and then the left one vibrates, and she has used them to calm me down, and to move trauma from my right brain to my left brain. I love them!! I'm very responsive to them. I'll get the name of them sometime if anyone is interested. They really work for me. So, I've learned how to think from DBT, and now I'm learning to think through my trauma and moving it from the right side of my brain to the left side of my brain. Good luck!

Great description of how you've used DBT to slow down your disordered thinking and emotional overwhelm, Forgive77. I do agree with you that DBT gives us coping skills but we then have to move to the next stage of healing that includes digging deeper into our emotions and how they got so out of wack!

The technique your therapist is using with the "hand zabbers" is called EMDR. A therapist uses hand zappers, tapping or movement of their fingers to help the client process the information more effectively. Some of the research indicates that people who have experienced trauma in their lives are able to process the information without secondary traumatization. Clients often find the technique very helpful and others are either not responsive or actually have more difficulties, especially individuals who dissociate. There is a special more advanced protoccol that a therapist needs to learn if they have a client who struggles with dissociation. Glad it's working so well for you!

Hmmm, thank you very much for this sharing, it<S helping me to face the therapy with positive attitude...

pasc

interesting about the cyclothymia and bpd thing... as currently im challenging my bpd diagnosis and told my pdoc that i think im cyclothymic. so he is analysing my moods over a prolonged period of time and is going to consider the fact that i might be cyclothymic. il read that article actually as it sounds quite interesting

wow that is really interesting about the thyroid thing too. as incidentally, i developed a thyroid problem at EXACTLY the same time my problems with this illness began!!!!

Hi Laura, your text reminded me an old article that 'might' rely to you, I was doing some research about Bipolar vs Borderline, and there's a part called:

Borderline as the "Darker Side" of Cyclothymia.

I don't know if it can be useful for you?:

http://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/457151

It is an old article, but it may give you some insight...

Wish you the best... To all of you!!!

Pascal

Oups, the link is sending to a login section...

Just copy and paste in the 'google search bar' this text:

http://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/457151

First result, and bizarrely, it's accessible this way...

Ciao