personality disorder assessment? help :(

[scully]

Hello, I was a member on this forum a few years ago however due to life circumstances/mental health worsening I have not been an active member for some time and decided to create a new account.
Due to recent events that landed me speaking to the crisis team at A&E, my psychiatrist at the eating disorder service thinks it is best if I am assessed by my community mental health team (who I have had very little contact with so far) to be assessed for a 'possible personality disorder'. She said it might require a few assessments and the thought of a lengthy process is stressing me out slightly- I just don't know what to expect.
If anyone has ANY experience with being diagnosed/going through the assessment process for a personality disorder, your input would be very very much appreciated as all my research online isn't turning up much helpful input on how these things are actually diagnosed. (plus i'm not seeing my psychiatrist for another month so there's no way for me to ask her) edit: i have found plenty of diagnostic criteria, but not how the actual assessments work if that makes sense.

Also, there's some confusion over whether or not I can actually access this help... if anybody out there knows about the conditions/rules for treatment this bit is for you!
So, i'm headed to uni in september and will be moving to a new town. Though i'm already on the community mental health teams caseload, my psychiatrist said it could some weeks until they see me- even though she's marked me as emergency. On top of this, she's not sure they can even begin to offer me much support as i'll be moving to a different district- I understand that they cant offer me long term help as I will be moving away but will this affect my chances of recieving a diagnosis? I would just hate to have to go through all the waiting lists again when I move. I feel like it would be easier if they would assess me at least so I can provide my new gp/mental health services with some information on how they can help me.
Sorry if this is a long, rambling post I'm just confused- will they still assess me if i'm moving away in two months or leave it to the new team???


Thank you so much to anyone who got through all that jumble :)

[noodlzzz]

I was given a questionnaire to fill out and went through it with a psychologist.

[whirlpools]

Hi

I have BPD but I didn't really have any formal tests or anything. I'd already been under mental health services (CAMHS) for some time so I think they made the diagnosis more on knowing me than any particular test. They needed to give the diagnosis so that I could access a particular treatment. I had two assessments around a similar time there was some dispute over whether I had BPD or not. The first was with a CAMHS psychiatrist who didn't know me. She did three assessment sessions, over three weeks, each lasting 1-2 hours (one of those sessions was mainly consulting my parents though). She ended up deciding it wasn't BPD but something else. My team weren't happy with this and so I had a further assessment (2 sessions, about an hour each) with an adult psychiatrist in psychotherapy (I was 19 by this stage, just staring to prepare for transitioning from CAMHS). I think he said it was either BPD and something else (a psychotic disorder) or just the psychotic disorder.

Neither of these assessments required any tests or questionnaires, just came from talking to me (and my family but that will not be required of you). It's the BPD diagnosis which has 'stuck' though so I guess that must be the right one! Also this was ten years ago.

Hopefully your current team will be able to assess you before you move. It does sound like it would be helpful to at least have a diagnosis when you move. Maybe if they don't manage in time they could write a letter for you to take to your new GP? That might help outline their concerns and a need for treatment to be expedited.

[sherlock holmes]

I was in a specialist inpatient unit and a psychologist did a thorough personality disorder assessment with me. It took a couple of hours and she had a long questionnaire and asked lots of questions and asked me to elaborate on my answers. She also reviewed my notes from my stay so far before making a diagnosis. However, as it was a specialist unit they did go very in depth and I understand that in the community a psychiatrist can diagnose PDs from 1 or 2 sessions of general talking to see what things you struggle with/what symptoms you have. So it might not take hours or be too draining but will comprise of at least some questions.

I'm afraid I don't know if they will still do it before you go to university or not. You would have to ask that.

[Pi.R^2]

I'm afraid I don't remember my assessment in a lot of detail, but I think it was just asking a bunch of questions about my history and stuff.

Hopefully they will be able to get started with the assessment before you go. One time when I had a personality disorder assessment I then moved before reaching the top of the waiting list for therapy and they managed to move me up the waiting list in my new borough because I'd been on various waiting lists for so long, so maybe they'll offer something like that.

[Wonderland.]

I was assessed IP so my experience will be different to yours. However my diagnosis is being reviewed (as it is currently up in the air) in the community, over a period of consultations. I am not sure how many but I guess until my psych is sure on my diagnosis.

I do hope you are able to be assessed before you move.

[scully]

thank you everyone for your replies! sorry im so late in reading them, i've had a really hectic two weeks.
reading all of this has been really useful in helping me get my head round the process. hopefully they will be able to assess me properly before i head off to uni.. i'm feeling a bit more positive about everything.

[Uglyducklin]

It is really great you are feeling more positive. An accurate diagnosis can go along way in providing the right treatment xx