dudes with bpd

Any others here?

Every book i have read about it refers to a person with bpd as she and says something about how mostly girls have it.

Great. Thanks. Take my nuts away too, as well as telling me my core, my personality is my problem. I have had issues with my masculinity always. I was raised by a single mother and i can be pretty effeminent anyway. I deal with identity issues, including sexually.

I really with everyone didnt call it a feminine problem, and feel the need to let me know im in the minority for an already embarrassing disorder. I have a hard time accepting it. I have been fighting the diagnosis for ever. I feel like accepting it is like abandoning my already limited masculinity. I hate it. How is it helpful to make males with bpd so acutely aware that they are even more weird than the majority of people with bpd?

//vent.

Thanks bpd for castrating me.

Yeah, I'm here.... I also feel nowhere near being castrated... Thank God!!

Most, if not all, mental illness is going to be seen as affecting women more than men. At least that's what all the studies show. I'd be curious to know what the "real" impact of mental illness is on the male population, because many men wont discuss or admit problems.

I think part of your hightened sensitivitiy to this is your identity issues, as well as, already seeing yourself with limited masculinity.

There are some aspects of bpd which could be viewed as quite masculine ie. anger/rage, and others more feminine which would revolve around being more sensitive.

I'm able to relate to women on a deeper more sensitive level then a lot of men. To be honest I find those conversations to be for more interesting and thought provoking. So yes that would be feminine, but I see myself as being quite masculine, and no one has ever questioned my sexual preferences. I may even find it somewhat funny if they did. I know that I like women, and many on here can vouch for me on that, I really don't give a f**k what anyone else thinks. This is one area I know what I like.

There's also several guys here in the forum, and I don't think they see themselves as being castrated or more feminine.

Anyways. I think I'm gonna go play with my balls now..

You have stepped wayyyy off the beaten path.

Put down whatever archaic $#%^ you are reading.

It's not the 1930's anymore. Women work....Men raise kids....women can vote....and yes.....men are allowed to have personalities and emotions!

With emotions and personalities, comes personality and emotional disorders.

The research out there says some crap about the disorder being diagnosed in a 70/30...or 60/40....or 75/25....depending on what you're reading, in favour of women. There are lots of arguements as to why it may be diagnosed more frequently in women, and that can include cultural expectations, limitations of psychiatry, gender expectations...and maybe biology.

Regardless, a lot of men have BPD. There are quite a few on this forum. I am one. I have no issues with my gender identity, or masculinity, or sexuality. Being stoic doesn't equal being a man....it makes you a cold clinical statue. I'd take my emotions and passion anyday. Because I understand my emotions and those of others, I find it easier to form connections, friendships and relationships with women than most my non male friends.

Guinea Pirate says rawrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Hey Mr. invisable, I'm a dude with BPD. Good to know I'm not the only one.

Don't be discouraged. There are a great number of men who have BPD. The numbers still favor females but that in no way should "castrate" us males who also share this disorder.

When I was first diagnosed (over 18yrs ago) the first thing I heard in group therapy was "you can't have BPD, you're a guy". Even many professionals saw it as a strictly female disorder. So I know your frustration.

I think just about every trait of BPD can be expressed in a very masculine way. If you feel you are feminine, it's probably not because you have BPD, and you definitely shouldn't feel unmanly for having it. A lot of men have it actually, but they don't get diagnosed because the mental health system mostly only recognizes it in women.

BPD tend to be diagnosed more often in women because the traits are traits that are more traditionally associated with femininity. This in no way that a diagnosis of BPD makes one any less of a man, just as realizing that one is gay makes one less of a man.

I'll try to find some more information on the gender bias in the categorization and diagnosis of personality disorders.

Also, if it helps, the DSM-V is most likely going to a hybrid dimensional-categorical approach to "pathologizing" personality. which mean that it recognize that the DSM-IV-TR "personality disorders" are just the extremities of the expression of certain personality dimensions. Moreover, the DSM-V is most likely going to rename "personality disorders" "adaptation disorders", which moves toward acknowledging that they are more disorders of the individual's interaction with society thane disorders of the individual itself.

I know that this is not personal experience, but I hope it helps nonetheless.

This is an article which explains why BPD is rarely diagnosed in men...

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/sto ... sdiagnosed

I think it explains everything, that's the reason BPD is mostly diagnosed in women.

invisable wrote: I deal with identity issues, including sexually.

I also have the same problem (but I'm female). I used to feel like both genders, and at one point I was sure that I was transgender, and now I feel like no gender. I feel like a nothing and a nobody.
I'm also confused with my sexuality, as I can't tell if I'm attracted to men all over again, but I know I'm definitely attracted to females (making me lesbian)

DSM and all other diagnostic criteria manuals are very unreliable. They are not based in scientific fact but in observational studies. Over time they got redacted a bit but always based on the assumption that the original was correct basically.

So if a manual says issue X is gender specific then automatically the other gender gets under diagnosed due to the bias introduced in psychiatrists minds during education.

They'll never think about associating X with another gender because that's what they learned.

Having said that there is a slight difference in the most obvious characteristics of BPD across the genders which adds to the confusion.

But a 50/50 distribution of BPD across gender seems to be more in touch with reality.

This study evaluated clinical and psychological characteristics, including defense mechanisms, between male and female patients with BPD in a clinical setting.

METHODS: We recruited 30 male and 35 female patients with BPD according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder, 4th edition diagnostic criteria.
We investigated the gender difference of Axis I comorbidities and characteristics of suicidal attempts, and retrospectively assessed psychological characteristics of patients with BPD using the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, the Personality Disorder Questionnaire-4+, and the Defense Style Questionnaire.

RESULTS: Male patients showed amoreparanoid, socially introverted, and antisocial tendency compared to female patients. Female patients used splitting more frequently as the primary defense mechanism than male patients.

CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the core psychopathologies of BPD are very similar between male and female patients in spite of some gender differences in clinical characteristics of BPD. Female patients are more likely to show a typical prototype of BPD than male.

http://www.komci.org/GSResult.php?RID=3154PA%2F2011.22.1.9&DT=6