Is it really possible to recover from BPD/EUPD

[HildaOgden]

just wondering if you can ever, really, truly recover from EUPD
like have it taken off your notes or downgraded to traits
be interested to hear from peeps

And I don't mean for this to be a downer. It's just that I was diagnosed with BPD 14 years ago. I'm now 42yrs old.
It's been a long haul.

I've experienced a lot of stigma/prejudice having this diagnosis over the years and I would dearly love to lose this label. I know I am obsessed with diagnosis. It just matters to me because of the stigma I have experienced with BPD.

[Pomegranate]

I have had my diagnosis 'downgraded' to traits, so it is possible. I think psychiatrists are generally very wary of changing diagnoses though. Maybe talk to your psych and team about why they feel you meet the criteria and which ones you don't feel you meet?

[HildaOgden]

thanks guys; that's encouraging
I saw my psych yesterday and he mentioned that illnesses can change
the way I present now is a lot different to how I presented over two years ago
Over the past two years I have completed a full DBT program

Now I'm in my forties I'm hoping I will have my diagnosis changed to traits

[cough cough]

I had mine downgraded to 'traits' too but I still feel they misdiagnosed me in the first place as initially I was on a downer from Bipolar and at first they didn't see the upper side of me so they diagnosed me with EUPD.

[Arienette]

yup. in my last psych report, she said if i continued not using XYZ behaviours so much then she would downgrade it to traits eventually if i "got there"

recovery from BPD in my opinion is more management, which is why DBT is so praised because it teaches you self containment and management for situations which might trigger target behaviours.

doesn't mean your emotions will lessen in intensity, but its how you respond to them. x

[sherlock holmes]

Yes, I had my full blown BPD/EUPD diagnosis downgraded to 'traits'. I think a combination of DBT and growing up helped. I definitely don't feel anything like 18 year old me when I got the formal diagnosis (though it was recognised I had the disorder from a much earlier age). I feel more mature and more rational. If I feel low I can feel those neurotic thoughts creep up but I'm more able to ignore them and to deal with it in other ways than self harming or being impulsive.

I had a little blip last month where I thought I was relapsing, but it ended and I'm pretty much back on an even keel again.

[HildaOgden]

thanks for all your responses
I do feel like I have more control these days over behaviours and impulsivity
I filled out the BPD Zanarini questionnaire which is used to see if someone has BPD. I had to fill it out as it was the end of DBT and I had some questionnaires to complete for outcomes of the program. The only thing I scored on was paranoia.
I've asked my DBT therapist to write back to me to explain where that leaves me in terms of diagnosis