Trying to understand (just been diagnosed)

Hello There
Im 18 years old and i have just been diagnosed with BPD (technically its emerging BPD because of my age) I have had a long history of mental health problems and since the age of 13 i have spent my life in and out of psychiatric inpatient units.
As a bi-product of my BPD i have bulimia, history of anorexia, psychotic symptoms, dissociation and lots of other labels that doctors have attached to me over the years. For years i have been getting treatment for mainly my eating disorder and doctors have been left scratching there head in confusion over what was standing in the way of me regaining control of my eating.
This new diagnosis of BPD is totally out of the blue for me, i had never herd of it before i was told i had it. Im trying to get my footing and understand what parts of my personality are the disorder and my hope is that by talking to other people with the disorder maybe i will be able to pick up patterns in my own thinking? Maybe i just don't want to feel so alone? Im not really sure...

Hey Andy.

Being diagnosed with any kind of illness can be hard, especially if it's a personality disorder. But to make one thing clear, just because you have a personality disorder, it doesn't mean that your personality is 'disordered'. It doesn't mean you've been 'made wrong' and it doesn't mean that you're 'deformed' in any way.

To help you feel less alone, I'd like to mention that I've also been involved in mental health services since I was 14. I also have a history of mental health problems and have been in and out of hospital units with eating disorder symptoms, psychotic symptoms and dissociation (being only a few).

I've now been diagnosed with BPD. It was labelled as emerging BPD while I was under 18 but now I'm 18 it's no longer classed as emerging. I don't quite know why yours is as you're now 18 and it is normally 'officially' diagnosed when someone is legally an adult.

I hope this helped (:

Trix.
-hugs- xoxo.

Thank you for replying
Yeah its hard for me because im currently an inpatient on a eating disorders ward and im waiting to be transferred over to a specialist unit for BPD so the nursing staff dot really understand why i act the way i do because there used to treating eating disorders. The fact they don't understand makes me feel like im crazy and alone, very alone. I cant explain how nice it is to know other people can relate to me...

-Andy x

Hi Andy!!!

First off, I'd like to welcome you to the board, and also say that I'm really happy that you found us here in our supportive community :0).

This disorder can be hard to swallow for those of us that have stumbled on the information only to ask for our diagnosis, let alone for someone who may be blindsided by it. I hope that by moving you to a specialized ward, it will help your ED issue, instead of exacerbating it.

And yes, due to your age, it would be "evolving" instead of concretely BPD, but truly, there isn't much difference, except for giving you the ability to grow out of having the symptoms. Those of us who have been living with BPD since early childhood/adolesence usually know in our hearts that we've had it all along. I would never wish this on anyone.

However, some of my comfort in real life, other than the support and help I've received here on psychforums, I found in reading books about others who have suffered from BPD. Are you a reader? If so, please feel free to PM me, and I'd be happy to send you a few that I found helpful, especially in the "shock and awe" phase of the diagnosis.

Regardless - we are happy to have you here, and I hope that you will find this community both helpful and supportive. If you ever have any private needs that you do not feel you can discuss on the public board, I'm always availalble via PM, and so is JohnnyBlaze <3


AMP

andy4537 wrote:Thank you for replying
Yeah its hard for me because im currently an inpatient on a eating disorders ward and im waiting to be transferred over to a specialist unit for BPD so the nursing staff dot really understand why i act the way i do because there used to treating eating disorders. The fact they don't understand makes me feel like im crazy and alone, very alone. I cant explain how nice it is to know other people can relate to me...

-Andy x

Hang in there, dear...
Correct diagnosis is essential for determining the most effective treatment.
Effective treatment of patients with BPD starts with medical personnel - educated, trained and experienced in working with BPD patients, not Depression, not Anxiety, not Schizophrenia, not eating disorder... BPD and Cluster B specialists...
Good thing is that by 2012 lots of things about BPD treatment became more or less well known,
what to do and what not to do, what has chances to help and what does not...
Hang in there, keep us posted,
many people here understand at least something , and try to support themselves and others... who are feeling ... bad... and make an effort to assist each other in finding ways to recovery...
Hang in there