Originally Posted by
what_the?
It's not the MH people that I feel view me negatively ... it's more no MH people, employers and my GP, as well as I have seen doctors for other problems and they hear BDP and run a mile.
Employers and other doctors really don't need to know your diagnosis in most cases. I've had the same employers for 12 years and despite 3 hospitalisations in that time, they only know I've had problems with 'depression' or 'mental health difficulties'. They don't know I'm diagnosed with biploar disorder. It can be very hard going back to work when you know your colleagues are aware that you have mental health problems, but if you hold your head up and show them that you're perfectly capable at your job and are perfectly 'normal' to boot, they will treat you like any other member of staff.
I think it's about changing your mindset with respect to diagnoses. They're just labels, and with regard to personality disorders they're often not even all that accurate. They're just a made-up name to describe a set of symptoms that are often seen together - they're descriptive words, nothing more. Try to leave them on the piece of paper where they belong.