Observation therapy effective?????

And yes I have seen how bad people in the mental health field can be about BPD. A long time ago my mom and I encountered a psychiatrist and later a therapist who were absolutely awful and very stigmatizing about BPD.

And I didn't think anything you said was harsh or blunt. You've been through a lot of difficult stuff; anyone would feel a bit jaded from that. But it sounds like you have a lot of insight and courage to be posting on here in the way that you are.

Our conversation is interesting to me. I keep waiting for your responses. Glad to meet you. Have a good day.

I hadn't realized about this until recently I read a book written by Mark Vonnegut, who is a pediatrician. He has a mega rant about that in there. Book is called "Just like someone without mental illness only more so."

I have often thought the same. I am not in therapy. I used to be on a bunch of bpd groups of facebook but have removed myself. Once I was no longer being reminded of bpd 24/7 and got a good boyfriend who silently understands and work on mindfulness on my own, I became much better. I still slip sometimes but not nearly as much as when having a bunch of other bpd's in my life and being constantly reminded of it.
****I dont mean to ignore my bpd traits...because they cant be ignored, but improvements have been made when I stopped making it a main focus in my life.

Edward, I loved reading your ideas and I agree with them. I have always believed that humans have the need to label everything, and psychology is an example of that. BPD, or any mental illness, as defined by the DSM, is really just a set of behaviors/thought patterns/emotions that are grouped together and assigned labels to help clinicians understand and treat individuals displaying those characteristics.

The problem happens when people begin to define themselves by these labels and then they see themselves only in terms of the label. I am sure you have heard about "labelling theory."

My BPD symptoms once went into remission for 2 years, so I know that getting better is possible. I was very encouraged to read about your recovery and I've bookmarked your blog! Take care!

I haven't read up on the labeling theory, but I'm pretty sure I fell victim to whatever it is when I was freshly dxd bipolar.


Suddenly everything was bipolar, I was mood tracking and medicating and watching myself through a microscope... every mood fluctuation, every experience was bipolar. I over identified in a MASSIVE way!


That soon became exhausting and terribly discouraging, so I worked on changing my perception as my ill perception had me feeling ill all the damn time...Once I figured out that I was still the me before the pdocs got involved, and reverted to my former "ignorant" way of viewing myself i.e "wired differently", things became much calmer in my head.


Thinking of myself as being wired differently doesn't mean I'm in denial though, I don't doubt my dxs for a moment, its just a healthier way of perceiving myself.


I must add that once I stopped paying attention to every single nuance, I didn't feel as extremely symptomatic as before.


Lucky for me tho, my BPD dx came later, so I made sure not to make the same mistake twice. Now I'm focused on discovering and acquiring skills that will hopefully in time become second nature.


And for me, second nature is good enough.