Borderline Personality Disorder

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Only 2-3 people (doctors) have seen it in me. My current psychologist says I don't have it that its part of the other things I have. Please don't shoot me down. My anxiety and schizoaffective disorder can cause the mood swings, depersonalization (and other dissociative symptoms), the anger problems, the out of control feelings for my family (but never friends) and I believe that can be normal in a family to have love hate relationships, the psychosis is part of the schizoaffective disorder, the black and white thinking can be autism related. It doesn't automatically mean borderline personality disorder. They are dramatic people. I don't know if true but I believe they lie a lot. I don't have the impulsive behavior such as overspending (maybe just a little but not enough for mania or borderline where I spend all the money I have), reckless driving (I don't drive at all), and sex with random people I don't have that either. The only behavior that screams borderline to the exact point is the self harm. That is a big red flag for this disorder. In fact that is why some people see it in me in the first place.

Another point on BPD and self-harm, not everyone who got diagnosed with BPD for self-harming does actually self harm after the diagnosis. Getting diagnosed has nothing to do with it though, it's just so common to think self harm is a habit or an addiction, when there are actually so many types of self-harm and reasons why people would do it.

I wonder if it's a BPD thing... I never clear out any aim/yahoo/msn etc. contacts, even if I haven't talked to some of them in years (most of them, really). Should I just admit a lot of them have moved on, or we didn't know each other to begin with, and leave only the people I might actually talk to again?

I was diagnosed with BPD & lots of other things instead of Aspergers but I'm pretty sure I'm an Aspie & the docs/physics/experts;quacks got it wrong. I got the Borderline & lots of my other dingoes after I had a bad mental breakdown due to my 1s relationship ending & I was suffering from a psychotic depression. I don't think I would get the BPD label now but I think I understand how I got the diagnoses; they did not want to consider that I had AS so they did not realize that some of those BPD symptoms were routed to AS issues like unstable personal relationships, my anger problems(Aspie meltdowns) my alternating opinions about things(I was kind of lost due to being an outsider in life because I'm an Aspie with psychical disabilities others weren't really ware of who grew up in an NT world & had problems finding his place as a result so I was trying to find a way to adapt)

Not everyone who self injures has BPD. Medications can cause this behaviour. Anxiety, and anger are a few other causes. Often people learn this coping method while in hospital. It is part of the psychiatric inpatient culture. At one time, self injury existed mainly in institutions or was done in private. Now, it is a social contagion. It is this, that makes me question psychiatrists and psychologists who diagnose people with BPD based on this one behaviour.

A patient may appear to have BPD, but actually don't. It is important that a doctor explore with their patient over a long period of time the origins of their self injury. A person has to meet specific criteria for the disorder. A clinician has to determine if that individual's behaviour is motivated by an intense fear of abandonment and being alone. (This is not separation anxiety.) The problem behaviours have to be present for a long period of time (not weeks or months) and in different contexts, not just the clinical environment.

Don't believe any doctor who gives a BPD diagnosis in one appointment. BPD should not be diagnosed in adolescence, since the personality is still developing.

Here is the BPD diagnostic criteria:

1.Abandonment fears refers to an intense fear of. A person will do anything not to be abandoned. They may use suicide threats.

2.Emptiness refers to a visceral feeling, that is felt in the abdomen and/or chest. This is not a fear of "not existing" and existential anguish.

3.Interpersonal problems refers to splitting or dichotomous thinking. This is not disagreeing with your parents, partners and friends over things like money or clothing. People are seen in "all or nothing" terms. This is motivated by abandonment issues.

4.Affective instability refers to the intensity, volatility and the range of moods experienced in a short period of time. Eg. Minutes to a few days. A person with real BPD will fluctuate between emotions. The change is abrupt and each emotion felt is very intense. Eg. Sad, to happy, to angry.

5.Impulsivity refers to the self damaging variety. This is different from impulsivity seen in other conditions, such as bipolar. This is reactive and self destructive. Eg. A man in AA with 6 months sobriety suddenly gets drunk, because he had a fight with his sponsor. While, someone with bipolar may walk on a roof because he thinks he is a bird and wants to fly. It is very common for people with BPD to cycle through different impulsive behaviours, such as food bingeing, and spending sprees.

6.Identity disturbance refers to body image distortions commonly seen in people with anorexia and body dysmorphic disorder (think cosmetic surgery junkies). It also refers to adults (not teens) who take on the identity of the other person they are with. The lack of identity they feel is profound.

7.Suicidal ideation/self injury refers to threats, gestures and attempts that are different from a well thought out suicide. They are impulsive. (There is a huge difference, I have seen it.) The hospital can reinforce this behaviour, since it feel safe and caring.

8.Anger is anger. What makes BPD anger different is its intensity and inappropriateness relevant to the situation. Eg. The person goes on a rage when their partner is late.

9.Reality testing refers to apparent psychotic symptoms. Eg. Depersonalization, derealization, auditory hallucinations, etc... This is different from true psychosis.

One needs to meet 5 out of the 9 criteria for a BPD diagnosis. Why 5? It is arbitrary. Even the American Psychiatric Association admits that. Those are the people who determine what a psychiatric disorder is. They write and publish the DSM.

Depression, eating disorders and substance abuse are concomitant conditions, that are almost always present.
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If you self injury do you meet this criteria?

Just about every female who presents in emergency with anger, depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation gets diagnosed with BPD. One way to avoid this label is to stay away from hospitals, where it is most commonly diagnosed.

BPD is a legitimate condition, but I don't think it is as common as psychiatrists want the public to believe.

I have decided to post this because of my own traumatic experience with psychiatry. I was misdiagnosed with BPD and know how difficult it is to get fair treatment and be heard.

BPD is a very overused and stigmatized diagnosis that can prevent access to treatment. Educating yourself about BPD can help you determine if you have it or not.

^ I agree with you. And I find it particularly disturbing there's a bias towards females in this category, I don't even identify with many 'feminine' traits, but did someone even bother to ask me about that? No they didn't.

I never let go of people, but that's a good thing. I'd move them into another category rather than delete them. I don't like to be given up on so I don't give up on others. I know I had a hard time letting go of my ex, but then I was ble to, but that's because I stil talk to him and know that he's okay.

I was diagnosed with BPD in October or November of 2010, although I found out in December. Only one person who has met me for a grand total of two hours over the past year and a half believes I have it. I meet criteria 5 and 7 from Didgeeeee's list.

While I do not believe I have it, and this belief is supported by the majority of people who have interacted with me either offline and/or online, the diagnosis prompted me to research it in-depth, and I tend to feel that the way psychiatry fails people diagnosed with BPD is inexcusable.

Also, regarding the so-called manipulative nature of people with BPD:

http://www.psybc.com/pdfs/library/What_ ... Anyway.pdf

This paper deconstructs the idea that BPD really means manipulative, and puts the responsibility for this perception squarely on professionals' shoulders. Behavior that is acceptable from patients with other diagnoses are misinterpreted as manipulative from someone diagnosed with BPD.

I believe, statistically, approximately 10% of people with BPD successfully commit suicide. To me, this means that someone with BPD presenting as suicidal is in crisis, and not trying to "manipulate people" into being admitted to the hospital. That the suicidal ideation is intense and real.

There's another paper I came across:

http://research.chicagobooth.edu/cdr/do ... lliams.pdf

This paper shows that when someone is socially excluded, the same part of the brain that activates when one experiences pain also activates when someone experiences social exclusion. This does not mean that exclusion literally causes physical pain, but that social exclusion causes the same psychological and emotional distress that being in pain causes. I felt this was relevant to BPD because of the fear of abandonment, and taking any kind of action to prevent or avoid real or imagined abandonment. It seems relevant. If BPD is actually emotional dysregulation (in the UK it's called Emotion Dysregulation Disorder), then it seems that this is a relevant element. If most people feel emotional distress at the possibility and actuality of being socially excluded, it must be significantly worse with emotional dysregulation, at least for some people.

I'm pretty sure I appeared to fit most of those diagnostic criteria when is tarted seeing psychs Didgeeeee. I think most EMO teenagers who go through their 1st breakup from a very heavy relationship would appear to have most all those issues as well but they would not get the BPD label due to being teenagers. Some of us Aspies(defiantly me) tend to be immature for our ages; the standard figure I heard is that our mental ages are a 3rd younger than our physical ages but that's just the average & there's lot of variations & exceptions. I was close to 21 when I started seeing psychs & my mental age was probably on the lelevl of a young teenager & most all the psychs didn't believe I had AS because I communicated too well verbally & my learning profile did not fit the typical AS pattern partly due to me having other learning disabilities so the BPD diagnoses seemed to explain some of my issues.

I was diagnosed with it today.

I don't have BPD but I know a lot about it and I have a great deal of sympathy for those that have it. I had a friend a while back with undiagnosed BPD so I had a glimpse of how awful it can be. Best of luck to the OP and the others of you seeking treatment!