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I found getting a borderline personality disorder diagnosis very helpful

BlueButterfly50Senior Contributor29 Nov 2014, 10:08 am AEDT

I found getting a borderline personality disorder diagnosis very helpful

I was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder in 2005. I was very angry with the psychiatrist although I had already diagnosed myself based on what I had read. While I still have lingering issues with the way I was told, I have used the DSM V nine criteria, all of which I fulfil, as a descriptive diagnosis and checklist for healing. I looked at all the symptoms and worked on them with my therapist and practiced skills (not DBT) at home during my work/family/friends life. It took me a very long time to change the way I viewed the outside world and I now get it right most of the time. I used to smash things, video players, vacuum cleaners and plates and cups and found it impossible to hold down a job. I also found it difficult to keep long term relationships and lost many friends. I now use mindfulness skills to keep my emotions in control.

My thought processes are a lot more flexible now and I have put personal boundaries in place. I work as a peer support worker in the mental health industry and a greater majority of my clients have a diagnosis of BPD which they are finding it difficult to accept and neither should they accept what does not sit well with them. Not everyone wants to accept this stigmatising diagnosis and it may not be the right one for them. The DSM is by no means perfect and is only a description of external behaviour, it does not take into account the beautiful person you are when not unwell. You are not your diagnosis, but you can use it as a blueprint for gaining mental wellness, if you feel this is a useful tool.

I am starting up a BPD consumer support group in Western Australia in January, 2015. The premise of this is social inclusion, psychoeducation of the symptoms, how to deal with them, coping strategies, support, sharing and caring of stories and friendship. I was in over-eaters anonymous years ago and found the friendship and support there invaluable.

My questions are: Has getting a diagnosis helped you? How was it delivered to you? (I found out mine in a letter to my GP, the psychiatrist did not discuss this with me). Would you attend a support group for people with BPD if one was near you?

I would really appreciate your feedback on this as I want to be able to help give the right support in the right way that suits others.

102 replies

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In response to: I found getting a borderline personality disorder diagnosis very helpful

Unknown userMember06 Apr 2017, 9:14 am AEST

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In response to: I found getting a borderline personality disorder diagnosis very helpful

FlameslingerSenior Contributor06 Apr 2017, 7:18 pm AEST

Re: I found getting a borderline personality disorder diagnosis very helpful

@Feather,

I know how you feel but I don't have crutches. But still can use crutches to catch a bus. But it is annoying.

In response to: Re: I found getting a borderline personality disorder diagnosis very helpful

Unknown userMember06 Apr 2017, 7:38 pm AEST

Re: I found getting a borderline personality disorder diagnosis very helpful

are you alright @Flameslinger

did you get the help you needed yesterday?

i know you would feel pretty crappy today- i know how you feel

what have you been doing today?

have you got a safety plan or would you like some help to make one?

In response to: I found getting a borderline personality disorder diagnosis very helpful

FlameslingerSenior Contributor11 Apr 2017, 7:44 pm AEST

Re: I found getting a borderline personality disorder diagnosis very helpful

@Former-Member,

I was put in a mental hospital.

In response to: Re: I found getting a borderline personality disorder diagnosis very helpful

Unknown userMember11 Apr 2017, 7:50 pm AEST

Re: I found getting a borderline personality disorder diagnosis very helpful

are you still there now @Flameslinger or are you out now?

In response to: -

Phoenix_RisingSenior Contributor12 Apr 2017, 11:09 am AEST

Re: I found getting a borderline personality disorder diagnosis very helpful

Hi @Former-Member,

When the DSM-V was being developed there was a big push to change the name of BPD to CPTSD. It didn't happen because some people argued that a person can have BPD without a history of trauma. My personal view is that the tiny proportion of people diagnosed with BPD without a history of trauma most likely don't have BPD at all. For example, there are a lot of women who eventually get a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), who before being correctly diagnosed with ASD have a whole lot of psychiatric labels put on them and BPD is one of the most common of these.

It amuses me a bit when people talk about being diagnosed with BPD AND CPTSD. If someone tried to tell me I had both those diagnoses, I'd be asking how they did a differential diagnosis between them.

Being extroverted and/or having a lot of lovers is not a diagnostic criteria for BPD. A lot of people with BPD bounce from relationship to relationship, and often these relationships are sexual. However, they don't HAVE to be. For example, in my own case, the only romantic relationship I've ever had was with the youth group leader who took a "special interest" in me when I was 14. However, I have a loooooong history of forming super intense non-sexual attachments to people.

I agree with you @Former-Member in not liking the DSM. I think the powers that be missed an opportunity to improve the way we address mental health issues by not making some more radical changes to the DSM-V. I find it really sad when people recite a whole long list of labels that they've been given. I don't think some people realise how subjective the diagnosis of any mental illness is, and that there is a LOT of over-lap in diagnoses in the DSM-V. I don't understand why mental health professionals don't use the principle of Occam's Ra*or when trying to figure out how to best conceptualise a person's issues. That is, why don't they look to identify one overarching issue that explains the person's issues, rather than giving them a ridiculously long list of different diagnoses. Anyway, that's my rant for the day.

In response to: Re: I found getting a borderline personality disorder diagnosis very helpful

Unknown userMember12 Apr 2017, 2:09 pm AEST

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In response to: -

Phoenix_RisingSenior Contributor12 Apr 2017, 5:28 pm AEST

Re: I found getting a borderline personality disorder diagnosis very helpful

Hi @Former-Member,

It sounds like we have similar views re. how mental illness is conceptualized. I totally agree with you that most (note that I say MOST, not ALL) mental illness is fundamentally a response to trauma. Happily you and I are NOT the only ones with this view, as evidenced by the fact that the idea of trauma-informed care is oh-so-slooooooowly filtering through to mental health professionals. I think Australia is a bit behind some other countries in this regard, but there are definitely glimmers of hope that the message is getting through!

You asked me if I try to identify whether my reactions are appropriate or over-reactions. Hmmm...I'm not sure. I don't think I frame it in that way because to do that, I would need to start with a premise of how one "should" feel in any given situation and then measure my reaction against that. I don't really do that. However, one of the things that I've found super helpful in recent years is to recognise that I am "hypersensitive to emotional stimuli." That is, I tend to feel things more intensely than others. That doesn't make me "bad" or "wrong"...it simply makes me hypersensitive to emotional stimuli. So...I will recognise in a situation that I am experiencing bigger feelings than the majority of the population would experience in the same situation...but that's ok. It isn't a "problem" to be "fixed", it is simply who I am...and I am ok just as I am - whether others (or indeed, even I) believe it or not!

In response to: Re: I found getting a borderline personality disorder diagnosis very helpful

Unknown userMember13 Apr 2017, 10:57 am AEST

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In response to: I found getting a borderline personality disorder diagnosis very helpful

FlameslingerSenior Contributor13 Apr 2017, 9:47 pm AEST

Re: I found getting a borderline personality disorder diagnosis very helpful

@Former-Member,

I got let out

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