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Looking after ourselves

Raven
Contributor

Newly (and finally) diagnosed with BPD

Hello all
I have coped with my MI since childhood and have spent years trying to discover why I am the way I am. I have had several different psychologists doctors and pyschiatrists and nearly as many diagnosis. GAD, depression, bipolar, Aspergers and lately BPD. Even though my treating medical practitioners seem to disagree I feel like it finally explains me to myself! I am beginning to understand myself more. Problem is apparently I don't want this of all the things I could have. Does anyone have similar experiences? Or advice
4 REPLIES 4

Re: Newly (and finally) diagnosed with BPD

Hi @Raven (great name),

Welcome to the Forums.

You're certainly not alone is what you're experiencing. There's a few people on here that have been recently diagnosed with BPD who have had similar struggles. You might want to connet with @Crazy_Bug_Lady  and contribute to their post 'Recently diagnosed'. In this thread, you will see a post that I wrote, which pointed out members @shanc @chemonro @Ellie who made some wonderful contributions to that thread about how to respond to a new diagnosis of BPD. Hope you find connecting with these members helpful.

CB

Re: Newly (and finally) diagnosed with BPD

Hi Raven.
Pleased to meet you. 😊
I wasn't particularly eager when the psych said I had BPD. I'd not really heard of it before, and some of the pages I looked at online were just plain scary. I didn't want this. I was worried it'd define me.
My GP had the best way to think about it I think... he says that I am still me, just that I have these symptoms. And we know from previous experience what helps and what doesn't help others with these symptoms. And later down the track you may no longer have these symptoms. And that'll be good.
And it may seem odd, but I found it comforting somehow. This doesn't define me or describe me. The same way having diabetes or a broken leg doesn't define or describe someone.
'Scuse the rambling.

Re: Newly (and finally) diagnosed with BPD

@Raven
Who doesn't want you to be diagnosed with BPD?? Initially I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety, which was a result of BPD. I think I was lucky to be diagnosed within weeks through a psychiatrist and once I started to read into it I could myself in a lot of the stuff I was reading. Now I see my ppsychiatrist weekly and we work on CBT.

I assume all the different diagnosis would be confusing. Who are you seeing now for help?

Re: Newly (and finally) diagnosed with BPD

Hello Raven and welcome.

I think doctors and psychiatrists are becoming more aware or the symptoms of BPD, yet it still remains a commonly misdiagnosed disorder. I attend a Melbourne group who meets once a month and misdiagnosis is a common thread amongst the attendees. I've been treated for a number of issues over the years as you have been and none of them quite 'hit the nail on the head' until an ex-friend, who was involved with disturbed youths and young adults, told me I had the disorder. I'm a mental health nurse, but who works mostly in geriatric psych, so I'd had little exposure to BPD. I don't remember it being mentioned in any of the nursing classes I took, nor has it been mentioned during our ongoing in-house training that I recall.

To cut a long story short, I was super angry with my friend and so started a search on the Internet to prove her wrong. That's when I came across a Youtube clip that I may as well have posted myself. It just blew me away and I was inconsolable for days. I knew then and there that I had been suffering BPD since my mid teens! From there I went to my GP, then to a private psychiatrist, where I was finally diagnosed, and finally a therapist. Since this has all happened within the last 18 months, I'm only scratching the surface in trying to overcome this thing and I have a long way to go.

BPD has, in the past, been referred to as a "basket case" disorder because up until the late 80's it was considered untreatable. Then came Marsha Linehan (pronounced Line-a-han) and she changed the entire outlook for those suffering BPD. Linehan designed a program to treat Borderline Personality Disorder called DBT, Dialectical Behaviour Theraphy. Her techniques are now used world wide and have proven to be very effective for those suffering BPD. It works. BPD can be beaten, but it needs a ton of dedication on the part of the sufferer to get there. A bit like giving up smoking, the sufferer might need lots of support and may give up on treatment several times. It's simply not that easy.

The best part is that unlike other serious mental disorders, BPD CAN be beaten. You can regain a life well worth living and you won't need to take serious drugs for the rest of your life, so although you say "I don't want this of all the things I could have," I see that statement by you as simply not having all the available facts yet. There are people out there who run DBT courses, there are specialist therapists out there who can teach you the most effective strategies to help you overcome the disorder and best of all, you can have a decent life at the end of it all. BPD is far from the "end!"

I suggest you go Online and Google BPD The Shack. The site is divided into two parts. One for the sufferer and the other for people close to the sufferer. Within the site you'll find no advertisments, no attempts to push you into anyhting and a link to a message board where we can share our experiences entirely related to BPD.

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