Being diagnosed...

maybewhoknows wrote:Would anybody be willing to share how they came about being diagnosed with BPD?

I'm 25 I've been in various psychological therapies since I was 11. I took two overdoses last year and ended up in A&E with both of them. The first time I talked myself out of being admitted to an inpatient facility because to be honest I was scared and didn't want to go. The second time (which was last November) I didn't have much of a choice and I agreed to go voluntarily into a psych unit. I eventually discharged myself because I just wanted to go home. While I was there I spoke to the consultant psychiatrist but was never told of any diagnosis. I always suspected I had BPD and had asked my group psychologist a couple of times if she thought I could have it but she never gave me a straight answer (despite the fact I was in a group with 6 other people who were all older than me and had been diagnosed BPD) To cut a long story short after a conflict I left the group. About 2 months ago I went to my GP for a referral to DBT because I thought this would help with my self harm and I asked for any information she had on me during my time in hospital. She then printed out the discharge sheet from the Unit I was in and under diagnosis was 'Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder.' Nice of them to tell me!!

Was it a surprise to you?

Yes and no. I always suspected I had BPD but seeing it in black and white shocked me. I still don't think it's really sunk in.

Who diagnosed you?

I guess it was the psychiatrist I saw when I was inpatient.

Did you always think/feel there was something there to be diagnosed?

I always knew there was something wrong. When I first heard about BPD and read up on the symptoms I immediatly thought 'that's me' but I was always warey of making a self diagnosis. Plus, I didn't like the idea of having a 'disordered' personalty. I still don't.