Do the Symptoms Have to be Intense/Severe? Two diff. answers

Okay I am confused. Two BPD sites said totally different things. One site, which this forum liked to says, "2) that the diagnosis is based on severity of symptoms - NOT TRUE!" Yet, another site had a quote from this person with BPD and I realized many similarities between us, but was thankful mine wasn't as intewnse as his/hers since s/he desribed it as "eternal hell." As I read on the site owners had said, "Everyone has all these traits to a certain extent. Especially teenagers. These traits must be long-standing (lasting years) and persistent. And they must be intense." The word intense is what caught me. The first site says severity doesn't matter, the next one says they must be intense. Which site is correct?

Perhaps neither. BPD is a hard personality disorder to diagnose as it hold many triats of other personality disorders. You may have some traits but not others, and of different levels of "intensity".

If professional psychiatrists have a hard time making a diagnosis then following a websites criteria would seem even less likely to be accurate.

I'd go see a pro psych and see what he/she says.

Hi CemeteryCicada,
I'm pretty sure that the severity of the symptoms doesn't matter, just as long as you have at least 5 of the symptoms and feel that it affects your life. This is going to sound cheesy, but I think you have to look inside yourself to really decide if you have BPD... For me, even though some doctors would argue that I can't technically be Borderline because I am "too young", I just know in my heart that I have this and that I know myself better than any doctor.
Hope this helps a little... But if you're really concerned, a psych evaluation isn't a bad idea, as Jamie says. Just don't let what they say completely dictate how you see yourself.
Take care,
<3
drama_queen

Yup, self diagnosis is the way to go.

Think your a schitzopherinic?....well why not be then right. Dont let pesky psychiatrists tell you different.

Whatevers comfterble.

Hello, CemeteryCicada:
I have done quite a bit of reading over the past year regarding the "primitive personality disorders," which usually include Borderline, Narcissistic, and Antisocial PD. Otto Kernberg (psychiatrist, Cornell University) is considered an expert on primitive personality disorders. He believes that all the "primitive" personality disorders are severe. He also believes, unlike the authors of the DSM-IV-TR, that some people can have established primitive personality disorders by age six.

Your observation regarding intensity is a good one. Some say that the intensity of the symptoms depends upon the amount of damage that has been done. Intensity can be reduced by communication with someone (usually a therapist). I am wondering if the people who consistently use Psych Forums get benefit in this way. I have read that relating stress to someone, whether it be through the written word or the spoken word, helps the person by simply forcing the right side of the brain (where many emotional memories are stored) to communicate with the left side of the brain (where thoughts are put into language). A really good recent article is An Interpersonal Neurobiology Approach to Psychotherapy by Daniel J. Siegel, MD in Psychiatric Annals, April 2006, 248-256.

i don't think that intense severity means it has to be totally intense all the time every time symptoms occor. some symptoms will be more intense than others for different individuals. but still severity is an important factor to diagnosing bpd. it has to effect your life and your relationships with others in order to be considered a personality disorder. if it doesn't then it is just a personality quirk. which is far less serious and doesn't require the intense therapy the most people with bpd require.

if it is really bothering you and you are having symptoms that are affecting your life and your happiness you should see a therapist and talk to him/her about it. but don't be too quick to diagnose yourself or label yourself with a mental illness.

erin

JamieJ23 wrote:Yup, self diagnosis is the way to go.

Think your a schitzopherinic?....well why not be then right. Dont let pesky psychiatrists tell you different.

Whatevers comfterble.

haha!

:}

erin