is borderline personality disorder really taken that serious

hello everyone im new here im in my early 20s and i have borderline personalty disorder (been diagnosed) my question is. is borderline personality disorder really taken that seriously by professionals and everyone else (apart from the people that have it?? i myself suffering from it, i know the problems and struggles it causes in life but it seems to me that the professionals see you as attention seeking akward and just a general pain in the butt and everyone else just sees you as morbid, attetion seeking and just making up problems that arent there and that we just want sympathy ....this seems the general stigma that comes with being given this diagnosis. its so fustraiting as i myself felt i doctors and professional were working with me until i got given this diagnosis then it was like hmm yeah whatever u say ur just being difficult, they never actually said this its just the feeling you get as you see there attitude towards you change. in the end you start not wanting to say anymore incase they think u are attention seeking then start to deal with ur problems by urself and keep quiet. does anybody else feel the same i would love to hear peoples views and opinions i am from the uk by the way. thanks for taking the time to read my rant lol

Dear Alilhope,

You are right in your perception that people with BPD don't get any respect from the Mental health Professionals. Many MHPs refuse to "treat" BPD individuals because they are regarded as being notoriously difficult. You might want to use your discretion in choosing who you disclose your diagnosis to.

I pretty much agree with the above. I would advise not discussing it with people outside the medical profession. No matter what you tell someone more than likely they'll look it up on the internet, and I think most would agree here that it doesn't paint a good picture of who we are.

I also agree with you regarding how people in the medical profession view us. There are many psychiatrists/therapist that won't see people with BPD, because were viewed as being difficult. I've been with my psychiatrist/therapist for a number of years and when I discuss my difficulties with interpersonal relationships, and coping skills, I feel like it goes over their head, ignored and then tell me what I should try doing. I think most, including Dr.'s just can't grasp what we deal with on a day to day basis. These are the coping skills that we've learned from a young age and are ingrained in us. I'm 41 and have lived with this for close to 30 years. It's very frustrating when anyone tells me I should just do this or that, when my coping skills aren't the same as someone who doesn't have bpd. It's not a light switch that I can just turn on and off. If it were that simple I would've done it 30 years ago.

thank you for taking the time to reply you both make very good points about not discussing bpd outside medical professionals but as the medical professions see us as difficult to treat how does one go about trying to find help to make living with bpd easier without the help of medical professionals as you tend to find your just hitting your head again a brick wall. i would love to hear from everyone on how they cope and what they have done as i truely find ours storys inspirational

hey,

My story isnt the greatest but i was diagnosed with BPD 31/12/09. but ive just gotten a new psyc. the thing that i love about her is when im flipping out coz i feel angry/abandoned/depressed is she doesnt tell me its in my head she accepts that thats how im feeling and trys to help me cope without me resorting to my usual falbacks, Od'd and cutting..

Keep looking, there are some good psycs out there. dont be forced into dealing with it on your own due to the stigma we face, if we do that then we wont ever be able to change the healt proffesionals opinions on us!!!