Struggling to accept BPD diagnosis - could it be ASD instead

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Hello neuro-spicy friends,

I have struggled my entire life with being ND : hypersensitive, hyper empathetic, needing to do things my own way, preferring my own company (or animals) to that of people, being both very smart (sometimes) and incredibly naive (often), not understanding 2nd degree, getting obsessed with certain topics... and much, much more.

What makes any diagnosis a bit complicated is that I have also struggled with CPTSD most of my life after years of sexual abuse in my early childhood, and I have been anxious and depressed most of my life. That, and the fact that I live in France where we're sadly super behind in mental health.

Last week I saw a psychiatrist who after an hour told me quite confidently that I have BPD and that she's surprised no-one's caught it before. But after reading up on it tbh I don't think I agree - I do not really recognize myself in the DSM V criteria.

I am currently undergoing an evaluation of my neuro-differences with a psychologist. There seems to be a lot pointing to ADHD as well as panic disorder, but I am currently awaiting the results which I should get early November. I suspect I may have Asperger's as well but I am a highly masking chameleon so...

Does anyone relate? Have you had a BPD diagnosis that was later changed to ASD? Or did you think you had ASD and turned out BPD? What are you experiences of the differences between both?

Thanks for your insights

Not misdiagnosed here; I had a suspicion that I might have BPD on top of possible ADHD.

Just suspicion, never full blown self diagnosis.

If I based it on symptoms, it might be a fit that my Sped teacher can agree.

But if I based it on common experiences, I couldn't relate.
But then, so is me towards the common autistic experiences. It is how I will never able to self diagnose correctly.

And the similar symptoms is what caused me to get diagnosed in the first place.

That, maybe, while I do not doubt my neurodivergence, that autism might be a reaction?

Or that it's something else entirely or on top of autism if it's really there it since I can't seem to relate to many stories and accounts -- also trying to figure where my autism came from... Which is another common aspect that I cannot seem to relate.


That is, just this year, finding out that's just me being reactive to female hormones and the seemingly lifelong mental health interferences from unprocessed emotions since age 5 -- most of it, all those struggles that I've been dealing for practically most of my life, gone in an instant.

Suddenly, I lost said issues and some of it are just fading.
And just improving since.


Supposedly, this year, I'm planning to get reassessed and get evaluated by said labels.

But then it solved itself...
I no longer have doubts and suspicions that I even had any in the first place. Cancelled all my plans to pursue a new diagnosis.

More like I found out that most of my issues isn't even a part of me being neurodivergent, but my reaction as a fricking human being.

That I'm just someone who's dealing with crap with my mind and body, and then just so happened to be autistic.

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Lose more time here - Updates at least once a week.

I could talk about this at length, but I'll try to be brief:

1. Absolutely, yes, autism can be misdiagnosed as BPD, and I believe this is extremely common for autistic women especially.

2. BPD is in many ways a catch-all diagnosis, like fitting square/triangular/hexagonal pegs into a round hole, and most people have at least some traits. (i.e. fear of abandonment, feelings of emptiness, etc).

3. The trait that would lead most autistic people to get a BPD diagnosis, I believe, would be emotional dysregulation. This dysregulation is most likely the result of sensory overload; i.e. having a meltdown. However, most psychiatrists can't diagnose autism as it's not a psychiatric disorder, and therefore this won't occur to them. Therefore, once they have eliminated bipolar and delusional disorders, this is the only other option.

4. In relation to the above post, autism can only be diagnosed by someone who is specifically trained to do so. This can be either a psychologist or a psychiatrist, but is more often the former. Most run-of-the-mill psychiatrists are, unfortunately, quite ignorant of autism in adults (though many of them won't hesitate to try and tell you that you're not autistic, even if you've only just walked through the door--don't listen to them!) Unless they are properly trained in diagnosing autism, they are not capable of determining this.

5. One thing that seems to be extremely common in people diagnosed with BPD is that they were traumatized at a young age, and a huge percentage are women who were sexually assaulted when very young. If this applies to you, it complicates the above advice, which is in view of autism only.

Bottom line, get a second opinion, and if you want an autism diagnosis you need to go to a specialist. If you have read up on BPD and feel that it doesn't fit you, you are probably correct. you know yourself much better than someone who assesses you for less than two hours.

If you wonder where I get my information from, I work as a medical transcriptionist for an outpatient psychiatric clinic, and I have typed thousands of reports. BPD is very commonly diagnosed and yes, I do come across reports where patients are questioning if they have autism and they get diagnosed with BPD (and other disorders) instead. Some psychiatrists also seem to have tunnel vision in regards to BPD, mostly men who are likely misogynists.

hope this helps, let me know if you would like more info!