Is BPD A Dumping ground??

Pierro · Aug 19, 2014, 11:20 AM

Hello all, I have just recently came out of Psych hospital. It was just a thought but when I went to my G.P. and told him that I ws diagnosed with BPD he wasn't fazed by it because he said that psychiatrist's just put you in that box because of you being"difficult". Plus I am a woman and a large percentage of BPD are female. Yes I was a **** when I was in there but is that a fair diagnosis. What's also bothering me is since I have came off efexor 225mg, I think that my depression has become worse but the psych dismissed me as being depressed and all he offered me is DBT... I am not happy and feel alone... Blah. Do you peeps think your diagnosis fits right with you. Maybe I just dont want to accept that diagnosis! Was my doctor just trying to make me feel better!?? Questions, questions.......

moodycow · Aug 19, 2014, 11:26 AM

Hey, i have heard it said more than once that this can be the case with bpd, personaly i know 100% it is correct . do some research on good reliable sites ( mind) you will know if this fits you when better informed. good luck let me know how you get on

widgets · Aug 19, 2014, 12:28 PM

DBT cant hurt, even if it's not BPD you are struggling with. Have you spoken to anyone about your concerns?

Do you feel the individual symptoms fit right with you?

Espresso · Aug 19, 2014, 01:05 PM

I think I've heard of BPD as a dumping ground before, and I can see how it could happen. I also got the diagnosis after being "difficult" in an inpatient setting. (I say "difficult" because I thought I was being quite cooperative, but according to the detailed discharge notes I found recently, they apparently thought I was resisting everything.) The diagnosis fits me though. Take a look a reputable websites or books (BPD For Dummies or BPD Survival Guide) and see if you think you fit the criteria. And definitely give the DBT a try! I believe it could be useful for anyone.

Teacake · Aug 19, 2014, 01:43 PM

I have PTSD and borderline traits. I really do have borderline traits. My mother is borderline. But I got dxed with borderline traits after I turned fifty. Right before my period. Go figure.

When I was stoically and silently planning my suicide, I had PTSD. Now that I am shrieking for help I am GAD or borderline.

Even I do the gender stereotype. I think of my dad as PTSD and my mom as borderline. They had very similar traits. Daddy got in fights sometimes. Mom engaged in *****ery.

Even my own symptoms, I think of falling into a fight stance as PTSD and crying hysterically as borderline. These are cultural and gender stereotype distinctions. borderline fight and ptsd cries too.

I think of borderline as "childhood onset ptsd" meaning ptsd plus insecure attachment to mother plus developmental issues. I don't know about you but my development was interrupted at times of severe trauma.

Another way I look at my own situation is that I am on the cusp of borderline and PTSD.

When a staff split around me, some folks said that made me borderline. The staff was in two camps whether I eas there or not. O think. Thank dogs I dont have to worry about whose projecting on whom. I didn't study that headachey crap for a reason.

I dont feel insulted by being told about my borderlineness where It really appears. Eg I cling at the end of conversations and sessions. I get angry or disgruntled at discharge.

I do hate to have someone poi.t out to me that I am clinging while I'm clinging or angry while am angry. But so does anyone with manners.

Anyway, thats my ramble.

The_little_didgee · Aug 19, 2014, 02:05 PM

Some clinicians will diagnose people with BPD if they do not like the person, if they are difficult, self-injure or are angry (especially women) even if they do not meet the minimum criteria for the disorder.

I was diagnosed with BPD when I was a teenager. The diagnosis did not describe what I was experiencing so I never accepted it. Later on I learned I had ASD. My anger at the bullies and a bad reaction to two SSRIs made it appear like I had BPD. Sometimes when people are stressed they can appear to have the disorder but the symptoms recede once the stressful event resolves. BPD traits have to be chronic (at least a year) and present in all contexts of a person's life. This is why BPD should never be diagnosed in haste.

Definitely do some research.

Mustkeepjob32 · Aug 19, 2014, 02:06 PM

I think it's unfair to say that you're difficult. I prefer the term "resistant to treatment."

jean17 · Aug 19, 2014, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pierro

Hello all, I have just recently came out of Psych hospital. It was just a thought but when I went to my G.P. and told him that I ws diagnosed with BPD he wasn't fazed by it because he said that psychiatrist's just put you in that box because of you being"difficult". Plus I am a woman and a large percentage of BPD are female. Yes I was a **** when I was in there but is that a fair diagnosis. What's also bothering me is since I have came off efexor 225mg, I think that my depression has become worse but the psych dismissed me as being depressed and all he offered me is DBT... I am not happy and feel alone... Blah. Do you peeps think your diagnosis fits right with you. Maybe I just dont want to accept that diagnosis! Was my doctor just trying to make me feel better!?? Questions, questions.......

Hard to say. I'm diagnosed with BPD, but I think that I just barely meet the criteria. I think that other approaches, diagnoses just didn't help so my psych team called me BPD in order to get me into a DBT group. It hasn't been all that helpful, but I'm sure glad to have the weekly time with my psychologist and I do think that I'm learning a lot of useful stuff.

Sure hope you get all the help that you need.

ifst5 · Aug 19, 2014, 04:01 PM

First of all, what GP's have adequate knowledge let alone training in personality disorders? An incredibly small percentage. It sounded like he was just spewing misinformation - that's a common problem with GP's. I find that unless you see one in an affluent area or go privately, they can not only be useless - but actually dangerous.

Anyway, only you can really know your own symptoms. Personality disorders involve long term patterns of specific behaviour...so the criteria for diagnosis is usually high. There are a variety of treatments that will best suited depending on what's most troubling for you - because it's different for everyone despite the some of the more commonly shared issues. For some people their most immediate problem is the impulsive/reckless traits that lead to addiction, relationship break ups, career breakdowns etc. For others it's more a concern over mood fluctuations and how to cope with the affect this has on all aspects of life. One thing i would say is that depressive traits are common among a lot of sufferers. I could go on but really the only advice we can give you is to keep going in your search for answers while we try and support you as best we can in the process.

Seek out those who properly qualified, be honest about what are your biggest concerns, and keep striving for the correct treatment for you, not something that's worked for others. All the best.

cryingontheinside · Aug 19, 2014, 04:02 PM

Hiya. I felt strange when first diagnosed with bpd. I though doed that mean i have a ****ed up personality or something. When i got the diagnosis they didnt explain much about it. The more ive learnt from looking on the internet and being on here i am 100 percent sure i fit the bill. It took me a while to accept tho especially as there can be some stigma with this diagnosis. Unlike you, they give me medication but wont give me any therapy. Id rather have the therapy than the medication. Apparantly long term therapy can cure the simptoms of bpd. They should give you medication to help you till the therapy does its job. I dont know why they wont give you medication and the reason they are mot giving me therapy is financial. The goverment doesnt want to pay. But thats funny because if i got the therapy i needed id work two jobs like i used too and they woulnt have to give me benefits. Instead their keeping me inwell

Korana · Aug 19, 2014, 08:53 PM

I was both devastated and relieved when I was diagnosed. Firstly, it made me feel broken, like I hadn't grown up inside, or missed a step, or that I existed on top of a cracked pyramid, that a building block was missing... and I wasn't really a person.
On the other hand... I researched a LOT, talked to BPD sufferers and eventually came to accept my diagnosis. It took a weight away. I thought I just wasn't a person. That I had been born as a half-being and I didn't deserve to experience life, 'normally' Understanding BPD brought everything in my life into a new perspective.
There's a lot of neglect and abuse in my past and taking the BPD label meant I was stepping up to the plate to acknowledge, accept... and fight through it.
Do I ever believe I'll fully recover? No. But there's always hope of feeling better generally. Day at a time.
If you're in such doubt... really research BPD and own up honestly to your behaviour. Never lie to yourself about what you do and how you do it.
If you're still doubt it beyond all that... then demand a second opinion. I may be a 'difficult patient' too. But I've learned, and am still learning, asking politely and sweetly the first time gets you nothing. People take strength seriously. Blowing in there and making it firmly clear you want and are entitled to challenge a mental health diagnosis tends to get you the results you need.

Pierro · Aug 20, 2014, 07:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by widgets

DBT cant hurt, even if it's not BPD you are struggling with. Have you spoken to anyone about your concerns?

Do you feel the individual symptoms fit right with you?

Theres no one here to speak too unless I phone the Psych hospital. I am living in Ireland in the back of beyond. I cannot afford a private psych because he costs 180 Euro a visit.

Pierro · Aug 20, 2014, 07:43 AM

I think what is really bothering me to be honest is the diagnosis, but, I still feel very depressed and I need some help with that. I am going to have a DBT session on Friday and I will bring it up with her about how I feel. She is part of a team, so she can pass it on to who ever needs to be involved. Thanks for all your replies guys, I do appreciate them.

Korana · Aug 20, 2014, 01:46 PM

If you're feeling depressed generally, severely and have been for a while... You need a medication boost, to help you cope. Many of us take all sorts of medication. Talk about anti-depressants with a doctor or psychiatrist.
Also... receiving any diagnosis is a blow. Whatever you're tagged with. You need time to process this too.

Pierro · Aug 20, 2014, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Korana

I was both devastated and relieved when I was diagnosed. Firstly, it made me feel broken, like I hadn't grown up inside, or missed a step, or that I existed on top of a cracked pyramid, that a building block was missing... and I wasn't really a person.
On the other hand... I researched a LOT, talked to BPD sufferers and eventually came to accept my diagnosis. It took a weight away. I thought I just wasn't a person. That I had been born as a half-being and I didn't deserve to experience life, 'normally' Understanding BPD brought everything in my life into a new perspective.
There's a lot of neglect and abuse in my past and taking the BPD label meant I was stepping up to the plate to acknowledge, accept... and fight through it.
Do I ever believe I'll fully recover? No. But there's always hope of feeling better generally. Day at a time.
If you're in such doubt... really research BPD and own up honestly to your behaviour. Never lie to yourself about what you do and how you do it.
If you're still doubt it beyond all that... then demand a second opinion. I may be a 'difficult patient' too. But I've learned, and am still learning, asking politely and sweetly the first time gets you nothing. People take strength seriously. Blowing in there and making it firmly clear you want and are entitled to challenge a mental health diagnosis tends to get you the results you need.

Thanks Korana, If I am being honest yes I have many of the characteristics of BPD but its just the way he dismissed my depression, that annoyed me. You are right, it does knock the stuffing out of you when you are being given a diagnosis. Psych said BPD is not serious like bipoar, WHAT!! I ended up in A&E because of it.

Fuzzybear · Aug 21, 2014, 01:01 PM

OMG. I've only read the last post in this thread so far. And already I'm so grrr. Why the **** are some of the "professionals" so ignorant? BPD can of course co exist with clinical depression and other disorders and it can be dangerous to the person with BPD. W.T.F.