seeing a psych

sooo my ex-T said i was bpd for sure (said it again recently and told me to see a psychiatrist) but my T says im not bpd at all. as my ex-T knows someone in a mental hospital she told me to go to this psychiatrist that has tons of exp with bpd. today i booked the appoint but now im thinking... whats the point of going if psychiatrists do their "diagnosis" in one hour?? if these 2 arent consensual and know me for years, wtf this dude is going to know in one hour? thanks

what do you think? have you read the criteria for yourself? bpd is so often misdiagnosed....oftentimes it is bp or ptsd.....I have had several pdocs dx me with it in 15 min sessions because I have a thick file and was anxious and cried when I saw them. they thought I was being dramatic, one of the hallmarks of bp. so because I had been in a lot, because I had reactions to many of the meds I was on, not because I was complaining, but they didn't read that, only assumed and it was my anxiety making me cry not drama. and that is only one of the criteria. suicidal due to depression due to bipolar not treats of suicide because of bpd. dissociation because I have dissociative disorder, not bpd. still even if they were bpd traits, I never met the five criteria necessary to have bpd. they just like jumping to that conclusion. so discuss the criteria with your current t before you waste the money on a pdoc visit

hi thanks for replying. thats exactly the prob i dont have all the symptoms to qualify as bpd. but i do have some traits. the prob of this is actually being on meds. the first psych i saw only mentioned "ur depression isnt severe" lol i dont have depression, i have symptoms of depression bc i dont have a life. so she prescribed lexapro (AD). recently i decided to start taking lexapro but doesnt do much. then i went to my ex-t and she said u have bpd and lexapro cant do much for u. u need neuroleptics (AP), specially caz u have the symptoms splitting/all or nothing and only APs help with cognitive perceptual dysregulation!
thing is my t thinks i can improve without meds lol
so now i dunno what to think. and if this dude is gona make a dx in less than an hour is NOT going to be accurate. and i want him to tell me if i am bpd or not and prescribe me something USEFUL.
starting to come to conclusion that psychologist and whatnot are waste of time to be honest

It's hard to diagnose BP and lots of Mental Disorders overlap with one another. BP symptoms overlap with many disorders (Personality Disorders, Schizophrenia, etc.). Have you looked at clinical symptoms of BP (DSM-V)? How well are you functioning now? Get irritable, distracted, etc. very easily? If you are struggling find a PDOC associated with a good hospital, get PDOC recommendation from someone. They can't diagnose you in one session but they do. Get in with a decent PDOC and over time they can give you decent treatment. (Easier said than done.) Don't pick a PDOC willy-nilly.

Yeah...you can't diagnose BPD in one hour. It's just not how it works. There are usually a lot of tests over a long period of time, the reason being that it's actually quite difficult to know whether someone has a PD. Sometimes a persons PD is quite mild so they don't have any 'noticeable difficulties.' My advice would be to check this persons credentials and actually question how they're able to diagnose such a complicated disorder in an hour. They can have a very good idea - be almost positive in fact, but the devil's in the details. If they don't seem to be on the level i would instead seek a referral to a PD team, people who regularly diagnose and treat PD's as part of their job description. Good luck, a lot of people struggle getting answers when it comes to PD's so just keep going and come back here for support.

Here's a link to some good info on BPD.

NIMH · Borderline Personality Disorder

Here's a tidbit:

Back when Borderline was first proposed as a personality disorder, THE hallmark symptoms was self-injury. In the late 70s and early 80s, self-injury was an extremely rare symptom. Now, it's not unusual and doesn't necessarily mean borderline, but older therapists who were in practice back in the early 80s still look at SI meaning borderline. But there's a lot more to it than that.

I hope you find the dx and tx that you need.

hi. i do know all symtoms of borderline and suposedly this psych im gona see has tons of exp with borderline. i just had this idea that in beguining we would go there more frequently for them to be able to diagnose us proprely. but now i know is not like that.
thats the issue, im not functional at all. yea irritability/impatience is high. thanks

hi. according to my ex-t he has a lot of exp with bpd and he works in a well knowing mental hospital. i tried to search him online but i cant find anything. just that hes responsible for some workshops and lectures. i think i might ask him how hes able and how reliable is to diagnose in one hour. what i dunno is if i should tell him before hand that i probb have bpd or let him figure out for himself... thanks

Clarification: When you wrote "BPD" I thought you were talking borderline personality disorder then I thought "Well, she could be talking Bipolar Disorder". My comments were about Bipolar but it's all in the same ballpark. I mean it's good to check a list of symptoms and get in with a decent Dr. My understanding is one of the main differentiations between BPD and BP is self-destructive/self-defeating behavior. There are studies out there that show lots of similarities between the two disorders. Best of luck.

I don't think there's a lot of meds that work for Borderline Personality Disorder other than to treat certain symptoms. NIMH · Borderline Personality Disorder If you are working with your present therapist well, I would ignore your ex-therapist and start "new" with this one and what they suggested.

hi. ya i understood that thats why i wrote borderline :P yea they are similar. but no im not bipolar. thanks for ur input

hi. ya borderline doesnt have a cure per se but meds can improve some symptoms. well thats the issue. i think both are wrong. and giving that ive been with this T over an year and my situation is the same i really think i should be one meds (why i started lexapro on my own). yet she says i dont need them. thats why im trying to find the best solution and hear both. thanks

If you are not depressed because you don't have a life, can you work to get a bit of a life and see how you do? I don't think meds can help anyone if their primary problem is they don't have a life. You say you took one med prescribed and now you are self-medicating with lexapro, but I don't hear you saying either helped? I would go with working in whatever therapy to get a life -- job, school, interests, friends, own place, whatever felt best to start with.

ya i might try find a store to see if they sell lives. thanks for ur useful advice.

well... i went to the appoint today and wasnt what i expected at all :/ am i supposed to be the one saying what symptoms i have?? i dont even know what i have! i wanted him to tell me! but im guessing he wont do that. he changed my med from lexapro to paroxetine (praxil) which is a SSRI as well... anyone tried it??