Think I might have BPD but not sure whether to admit or not?

Hi everyone,

So I think that I probably have BPD. I fit the profile, score in the severe range on BPD questionnaires and am already receiving treatment for anxiety and depression plus have a history of self harming, bad/ volatile relationships and a crappy childhood. Lol, you have to laugh! Anyway, I know that you have to see a therapist for a diagnosis, but my question is whether it is actually a good idea to get the label?

I guess I want to know, has anyone had a positive experience of getting treatment? If BPD is hard to treat, will exposing it do any good?

Anyway, I hope you are all good and thanks for listening.

Hi Mitzy!

Getting the label doesn't really mean a whole lot. All it is, is just that - a label. It's just like the one on your shirt. The shirt is 100% cotton; it doesn't need a label to act like a cotton shirt. You can call it rayon all you want, but it's still going to shrink in the wash. The only thing a label does is let us know how to treat it properly.

You're the same way. Label or no, you're still you. You'll still feel the same way you did and act the same way you did. Much like with the shirt, the label helps those who are treating you, more than it does you. If a therapist hears that you're emotional, he may focus on that, and not pick up on other signs. However, if he's told that you have Borderline PD, he's going to keep his radar up for other symptoms that may need addressing, as well.

In my own case, before being diagnosed, I hadn't even heard of BPD. I knew I was more than a little "off" in my thinking, and had been so for years, but I always thought it was me being weird. Once I was diagnosed, my psychiatrist told me about a BPD Coping Skills program that is run at the local hospital for just such people. Without the diagnosis, I'd have never even thought about therapy.

So for me, yes, it has been beneficial. As always, your mileage may vary.

mitzy wrote:Hi everyone,
Anyway, I know that you have to see a therapist for a diagnosis, but my question is whether it is actually a good idea to get the label?

Will it give you peace of mind? It doesn't solve anything knowing, but may give you peace of mind, something for you to decide.. For me, it explained why I was the way I was. While it didn't solve anything it was nice to finally know..

I guess I want to know, has anyone had a positive experience of getting treatment? If BPD is hard to treat, will exposing it do any good?

Yes, it's hard to treat but there are treatments that have a relatively high success rate by teaching new coping skills. The most popular being DBT (which I've taken).. There's also CBT, MBT, Schema therapy so there are options available to you. In regards to DBT, you don't have to have a diagnosis in order to take it. There were a few people in my DBT group that were not officially diagnosed, and one guy was there for anger issues. Whether it will be successful or not for you depends on how much effort you're willing to put in to learning new coping techniques, but more important how well you do at integrating those new coping skills into you're life. It may not solve everything for you, but if it helps with a couple areas of your life you'll still be better off than you are.

If you do get diagnosed, it's not something you'd want to share outside the medical community unles you feel certain the person will be accepting of you.