Posted by Dinah on March 7, 2004, at 15:28:30
In reply to Re: It does help, but brings up another ??, posted by Apperceptor on March 7, 2004, at 14:45:04
There is a somewhat positive side to understanding yourself, if you have a sensitive therapist, in thinking in terms of BPD. My manner of presenting myself is such that no one ever had seriously considered I might be borderline. And I really don't have enough of the criteria to meet the diagnosis. But when I read Linehan's "Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder" I grabbed a highlighter and started highlighting. It did so much to help me understand why I did the things I did. And find words to use to describe my feelings. It was such an "ah-hah" experience.
Since then, my therapist has come to the conclusion that I have borderline traits, but I'm the one that brought the idea to him. Since so much of borderline personality disorder is defined in terms of behavior, he might not have understood what drove me nearly as well if I hadn't brought up the possibility of the diagnosis to him.
So he now thinks I've got schizotypal traits on the outside, wrapped around an inside with borderline traits. :))
But then, I'm firmly convinced that Axis II should be done away with and the underlying biological sensitivies and resulting clusters of coping mechanisms should be seggregated. So more like splitting borderline into an Axis I disorder that consists of poor affect regulation and slow return to baseline. Possibly due to a poorly regulated cholinergic system. http://www.biopsychiatry.com/acetph.htm
And then something similar to Axis II, but not called "personality disorders" but rather more like "defense structure" where the clinician can have a mutually agreed upon way to classify symptom clusters that often occur together, but that are (IMHO) responses to biological vulnerabilities.
I'm tired and I'm not sure I explained it well. But wouldn't it be great to be on the DSM committee?
poster:Dinah
thread:321635
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040303/msgs/321675.html