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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 24 of 24. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by gazo on April 6, 2007, at 15:47:53
just curious. it seems that many people here are. For those of you who are, do you agree with your dx? Do you have problems with the "label?" i have heard often that BPD's have trouble getting good treatment because they are perceived a certain way... is that true?
i have read about BPD, but what is your experience? If you could describe BPD in one sentence what would it be?
i'm just interested is all... and i'm bored. i am alone for the holidays.
Posted by Dinah on April 6, 2007, at 17:12:31
In reply to are most of you BPD?, posted by gazo on April 6, 2007, at 15:47:53
I think all my health care professionals have ruled it out, although it's always been a rule-out diagnosis because of my self injury.
I personally think I at least have traits. Perhaps I control many of the behaviors, so they don't see me that way. But when I was reading Linehan, I was shouting "That's me!!!!"
In a sentence I would say it was emotional lability with slow return to baseline. Or that's my favorite of Linehan's descriptors anyway.
Goodness knows my therapist should see me as frantically avoiding rejection. But in person I come across as more aloof and schizoid or schizotypal, and that's how they write me up.
Posted by 10derHeart on April 6, 2007, at 17:17:57
In reply to are most of you BPD?, posted by gazo on April 6, 2007, at 15:47:53
nope.
MDD and ADHD (inattentive), and I'd better agree (I know you were really asking that ? about BPD, but I can't resist a question...) since I feel like - no - actually I *did* diagnose myself with both!! lol....but it's true - long, boring story....
I can't speak for all posters - obviously - but I'll bet you'll find a huge range of dxs here. Some have changed over time, some have multiple dxs and some have some form of 'NOS' (which can feel like none, in a way) and some really have no dx. I was in therapy and definitely depressed and/or showing *classic* ADD symptoms for about 2-3 years without any *formal* dx. <shrug>
But I really need to stop now and go clean the house a little.....
ps - I assumed you meant borderline pers. disorder, but as some people use BPD to also mean bipolar, you might want to clarify...:-)
Posted by Daisym on April 6, 2007, at 18:29:02
In reply to Re: are most of you BPD? » gazo, posted by 10derHeart on April 6, 2007, at 17:17:57
See how much we still all have to learn about each other?
I have the dx of a simply adjustment disorder. It is all that is necessary and I don't want the PTSD stuff in my insurance file anywhere.
When I first read the descriptors of BPD I asked my therapist about the "extreme behaviors to avoid abandonment" part. Felt like me, with him. He said something along the lines of me being almost pathologically stable in relationships - no extreme behavior there. And he thinks intense attachment to your therapist can be a "normal" though not necessarily automatic thing that happens in deep therapy. So it isn't an indication of pathology in and of itself.
It is all so complicated, isn't it?
Posted by sunnydays on April 6, 2007, at 18:36:24
In reply to are most of you BPD?, posted by gazo on April 6, 2007, at 15:47:53
Nope...
I have depression, anxiety, and PTSD (although I still don't like to believe the last one, although I know it's true).
I don't think most people are borderline, or any other particular dx. It's a huge range here. But we all have in common that we are looking for support, I think.
sunnydays
Posted by Dinah on April 6, 2007, at 18:44:04
In reply to Re: are most of you BPD?, posted by Daisym on April 6, 2007, at 18:29:02
My therapist calls me pathologically stable in relationships too!
I guess that's why he can't get rid of me.
Posted by Daisym on April 6, 2007, at 19:00:51
In reply to Re: are most of you BPD? » Daisym, posted by Dinah on April 6, 2007, at 18:44:04
I swear, there is a secret book somewhere. I think your license number is the code to unlocking it and you get all the phrases that are so useful -- like the "So You Want To Be A Wizard" books. I've gotten so I sort of snort and look at him crosseyed when he pulls a phrase from the book. I told him that I would not be held responsible if he ever said to me again, "what are the tears trying to tell us?" UM -- I'M SAD!!!
Sorry to interrupt this thread. Just couldn't resist the rant.
Posted by wishingstar on April 6, 2007, at 19:20:53
In reply to Re: are most of you BPD? » Dinah, posted by Daisym on April 6, 2007, at 19:00:51
I'm diagnosed with borderline (although not a severe case of it) and major depression. Not really up to writing a whole lot about it right now but for now I'll just say.. I hate the bpd diagnosis. I do think it's accurate for me, but I hate the idea of the diagnosis in general. I'll try to write more on it later. I think about the questions youre asking a lot.
Posted by Honore on April 6, 2007, at 19:42:01
In reply to Re: are most of you BPD?, posted by wishingstar on April 6, 2007, at 19:20:53
I haven't particularly been or wanted to be diagnosed, but to the extent that one has been applied to me, it''s been MDD and some anxiety disorder of some sort.
I wondered what led you to conclude that most people here were diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. It's pretty hard to figure out what anyone's diagnosis is.
Honore
Posted by gazo on April 6, 2007, at 22:24:13
In reply to Re: are most of you BPD?, posted by Honore on April 6, 2007, at 19:42:01
maybe "most" was a bad choice.. i was reading over back posts and it seemed to come up a lot is all.
Posted by Iwillsurvive on April 7, 2007, at 0:02:31
In reply to Re: are most of you BPD? » Honore, posted by gazo on April 6, 2007, at 22:24:13
I showed up at emerg w/self injury, so they auto gave me bpd, but I really don't fit it well at all.
I also have been labelled w/depression and GAD.
I also have a tendancy towards dissociation at times.
I am rather split in my ego states or some such thing.
I am an alcoholic.
I think DX are not so good. They are labels. I think people grow and change. Also the dx just are so....kinda specific and few fit them exactly really, and yet at the same time lotsa people could be made to fit one.
Crazymaking(LOL!) is what these dx are!!!!
Posted by cubic_me on April 7, 2007, at 5:05:08
In reply to are most of you BPD?, posted by gazo on April 6, 2007, at 15:47:53
I'm not BPD, although I could have been labelled with it, since I self harm (but I didn't mention that until several years after my diagnosis of dysthymia with depression, which probably helps). I don't have any of the other symptoms of BPD (infact I'm to the total opposite, also very stable in relationships, I don't get angry I'm not at all impulsive etc), but I can see how easy it is for that label to be used for anyone who self harms, since in the past that has been thought to be pathognomic of BPD.
I think that labels are helpful for the physician, in that s/he can then access the information in his/her brain to treat the condition/conditions you have but can be stigmatising and unhelpful to the patient, especially if they think of themselves as their condition (eg, £I'm a depressed person£, rather than "I'm a person who happens to have depression" etc)
Posted by Poet on April 7, 2007, at 10:51:30
In reply to are most of you BPD?, posted by gazo on April 6, 2007, at 15:47:53
Hi Gazo,
No, dysthymia with recurring major depression, social anxiety, bulimia, and sensory defensiveness. Geez, is that long enough?
Poet
Posted by gazo on April 7, 2007, at 11:13:54
In reply to are most of you BPD?, posted by gazo on April 6, 2007, at 15:47:53
Posted by sleepygirl on April 7, 2007, at 11:31:33
In reply to are most of you BPD?, posted by gazo on April 6, 2007, at 15:47:53
I have:
"somethin' ain't right, not otherwise specified"
akaSAR-NOS
;-)
ya don't have to apologize gazo, the term BPD does come up a lot
-sg
Posted by wishingstar on April 7, 2007, at 12:47:31
In reply to Re: are most of you BPD? » gazo, posted by sleepygirl on April 7, 2007, at 11:31:33
Posted by jammerlich on April 7, 2007, at 13:14:29
In reply to Re: are most of you BPD? » gazo, posted by sleepygirl on April 7, 2007, at 11:31:33
If you ask me, the fact that some folks expressed concern over the assumption that lots of people here are BPD and the fact that gazo felt she had to apologize is strong evidence that there IS indeed a stigma involved in the diagnosis. Not that there SHOULD be; but, I think it's pretty clear many of us feel it's there. I'm just glad people here know there's a LOT more to a person than some silly DSM-IV label!!
Posted by sunnydays on April 7, 2007, at 14:26:14
In reply to An observation, posted by jammerlich on April 7, 2007, at 13:14:29
Oh abosolutely - just like I prickle when I see tv shows that make out like all people with mental illness are dangerous or something. There's so much to people besides some label. And most of the times the labels don't accurately describe the real problem, to me, at least.
sunnydays
Posted by sleepygirl on April 7, 2007, at 15:47:15
In reply to An observation, posted by jammerlich on April 7, 2007, at 13:14:29
yeah, they really have to revise that stuff in the DSM, it is way too simplistic and overinclusive at the same time
Posted by Happyflower on April 7, 2007, at 16:32:03
In reply to Re: An observation » jammerlich, posted by sleepygirl on April 7, 2007, at 15:47:15
Had PTSD 2 years ago, but no DSM disorders.
Posted by Honore on April 7, 2007, at 16:54:55
In reply to An observation, posted by jammerlich on April 7, 2007, at 13:14:29
I wanted to make clearer my concern, which is generally the assumption that people here are mostly anything.
I'm pretty anti=diagnostic categories in general, because I don't considered myself primarily identified by any psychological category, or with it. I guess I don't see those categories as revealing much about who someone is. what they value.
Gazo herself mentioned concerns about stigma related to BPD, and I can't say that I don't think there are any. In some places there might still be-- I'm not sure. But not here-- I wouldn't think. I might not particularly want to be thought of as being BPD, or being a depressed person, though. As others have said, that just isn't even a significant way that I think of, or would imagine, myself.
Hope this isn't uncivil. I didn't think Gazo needed to apologize. But I did wonder what led her to that conclusion, or if it's important to her what diagnosis people have.
Honore
Posted by gazo on April 7, 2007, at 18:56:49
In reply to Re: An observation, posted by Honore on April 7, 2007, at 16:54:55
i had no agenda and i apologized for my choice of words. i was just interested in the dx and the treatment. i also asked what kind of therapy people were in.. i'm interested.
as i already said.. twice now...i was reading old posts and it came up a lot. That's it.
i don't *need* to know what people have as a dx. It's not going to change how i act or relate to anyone. As I said "just curious." I am interested in people's experience with that dx, or others.
My questions arose from my reading about schema... which (again) was developed for BPD, so a lot of the info talks about BPD.
i wasn't trying to make any big assumptions or make anyone feel uncomfortable. i was shocked at the things BPD's sometimes have to face in trying to get treatment. i was interested in whether people's real life experiences were what the literature seems to say.
that was it. no more no less.
My deepest apologies to anyone i have offended or made uncomfortable by asking.
Posted by 10derHeart on April 7, 2007, at 23:09:53
In reply to Re: An observation, posted by Happyflower on April 7, 2007, at 16:32:03
PTSD is covered in the DSM. It's an Axis I, Anxiety Disorder, I do believe.
http://allpsych.com/disorders/disorders_alpha.html
Not trying to be contradictory for its own sake, HF, it's just that my ex-T. (who I still email with from time to time) works almost exclusively with clients with PTSD, and I could have sworn he's mentioned the DSM criteria or something about how it's described in there. So I thought.....am I remembering that wrong?
So of course, I *had* to look, 'cause I'm a dork/geek/nerd like that!!
And noticing you posted about it in the past tense - I am so glad you can now write that putting it either totally, or mostly (?) in the past, because I remember some things you posted here and it sounded like such a frightening thing to have suddenly happening to you....you've come SO far, HF!
Posted by Happyflower on April 8, 2007, at 8:09:01
In reply to Re: An observation » Happyflower, posted by 10derHeart on April 7, 2007, at 23:09:53
Hi 10der,
yes you are right, sorry my post was kinda of messy, PTSD is DSM.
But like you saw it is in past tense for me, because I am no longer suffering from that. Thank goodness because it was horrible. Luckely it is a disorder than can be treated well and overcomed with the proper treatment. EMDR helped me so much. Some day if I become a T, I will get certified in it. My T also specialized in trauma and I gave him lots of practice! ;-)
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