I've previously been diagnosed as having borderline (emotionally unstable) personality disorder but I've got a couple of friends who are bipolar and don't think that my diagnosis fits quite right or that the medication I've been put on (an anti-depressant) is helping the way it should do.
They've suggested that I speak to my doctor and/or therapist about the possibility of me being bipolar instead of BPD; however I feel like I fit the BPD diagnosis really well and I'm not sure what to do or think.
How likely is it that I could have both? Could I fit almost all of the criteria of BPD (in my eyes) but actually be bipolar?
I'm so confused right now and feeling so low that I can't even process the idea. Any thoughts/suggestions would be very much appreciated.
Thank you.
Last edited by Chocolate Fireguard : 09-09-2013 at 05:07 PM.
Thank you.
I'm going to speak to my therapist about it tomorrow, but it's likely that she may refuse to talk to me about it as she has done with meds before (she says that she's seeing me as a psychologist and not a psychiatrist) and then I will have to see about speaking to my doctor.
Both conditions are very similar in that they produce mood swings/instability and impulsivity.
I was diagnosed as Borderline, then bipolar with BPD traits, and now we're not sure exactly what it is. But the mood stabiliser I was on never helped very much.
I don't know how well an antidepressant would help you if you're having mood swings, you'd probably need a mood stabiliser, but that can help for both BPD and bipolar.
I don't think it really matters what diagnostic box you get put in, as long as your difficulties are addressed.
Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes but when you look back, everything is different…
you once called your brain a hard drive, well say hello to the virus.
You could talk to her about what symptoms affect you and how? See what she suggests for managing them rather than down the route of "i think my diagnosis is wrong"
At the end of the day its more important to get symptoms under control, diagnosis comes second. Probably worth making an appt with your dr too though.
I agree, the symptoms are the most important thing. It's just that I'm in a very BPD specific therapy apparently so I guess it's important..?
Quote:
Originally Posted by sherlock holmes
I don't know how well an antidepressant would help you if you're having mood swings, you'd probably need a mood stabiliser, but that can help for both BPD and bipolar.
I used to be on both when I was at university, though I never took them properly so I'm not sure which - if any - helped. I may speak to my doctor about going back on my mood stabiliser, as she said that it might be a possibility if the upped dose of my anti-depressant didn't work (it doesn't seem to have, with how bad I've been feeling).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bear
Just to clarify, the term "dual diagnosis" refers to mental health and substance abuse problems, not two mental health conditions
x
Oops, my apologies! I didn't know it was an actual term! Thank you for the heads up. I've edited the title now.
Thank you everyone, I really appreciate the responses as I'm so freaked out and scared right now.
I'm having a therapy called Transference Focussed Psychotherapy, which I believe is BPD focussed, but could be wrong. I think my medication is geared towards the depression/BPD diagnosis too. Hopefully the therapy could help regardless, but we shall see.
You may never get a straight answer on your diagnosis or one person may say something else than another. I have been through it so I do understand and get it. What matters is you. you are NOT a disorder who cares what disorder you have just live life the best you can and try to help others. And just because you have a mental health disorder doesn't mean you have to take meds you can do it with out it too. Also if you take meds you don't have to be on them forever. My psych I used to see I don't any more she
believed I was bipolar but all my therapists I saw thought I had borderline too. I thought it was strange that psych never said any thing about borderline to me. maybe because she thought I didn't have it. I don't know I never asked. Now I wish I did. Oh well its just a label and I am not a label I am me and you are you not a label. I may not have those things. I believe strongly I don't have bipolar.
Also go with your gut feeling if your feeling strongly you don't have a diagnosis then you probably don't have it. Then discuss with the person that diagnosed you with it why you think you don't have it and so on. If they don't agree with it then just deal with it because all that matters is you know you don't have it. You know your self better than any one.
I have bipolar but there has been talk about borderline in part I think because I am not typically bipolar or borderline.
I hope talking to your psychologist helped
Xox
When we lose twenty pounds... we may be losing the twenty best pounds we have! We may be losing the pounds that contain our genius, our humanity, our love and honesty. ~Woody Allen
Is a chocolate muffin loving glitter ball
Thank you for your continued replies, it means a lot.
Lauri, you're right, it's just that I've based so much of who I am on my diagnosis that it's a bit scary to think that it might not be right, that the meds might not be right, etc.
Thumbelina, I'm hoping that is the case with my therapy too. Fingers crossed it can help regardless, though I've not really seen any improvement thus far & I've been seeing her for months now.
Camilla, thanks for sharing that. :) Talking to the therapist didn't really help that much, she related it to how I feel about it mostly & said that she saw that there were overlaps between the two.
My friends are advising that I go back to my GP to talk about things - not necessarily the diagnosis, but the fact that despite the meds & therapy, things don't seem to be improving (in fact, at the moment things are worse than they were).
I was diagnosed with bpd and told there was nothing they could do etc but after reaching crisis point and ending up in hospital very ill the head psych diagnosed me with bipolar type 2. Apparently I'm between the two diagnosises, got a bit of both. But it's something you should def question them on, as I was told that anti depressants can make the bipolar worse as they can exaggerate the symptoms of being manic/ hypomanic, so you could be on the wrong meds.
