To think personality disorder IS mental health? (sensitive topic)

[EddyF]

In this article of a mother killing her baby, it mentions that she has a personality disorder but not suffering mental illness. Wouldn't a PD mean mental illness?

I genuinely am interested in knowning more about PD as I'm worried about a relative who appears to have PD (from my limited knowledge on Google search). But I would have thought it would be considered as a MH issue.

Sorry it's from the DM

article-5412741/Mother-22-admits-poisoning-seven-week-old-baby-boy.html

Pandora you sound like you suffer in a similar way to me. I’m hyper sensitive to others although not overly emotional. I am pretty far into the diagnostic criteria though 😳

I’m having intense psychodynamic therapy which is helping me face my emotions and challenge my thinking and interactions with others. In addition my bpd acts as an attachment disorder too. It’s such bloody hard work having a personality disorder. I’ve had new friends cut contact with me after me telling them about my bpd, I’m almost entirely sure it’s because of that.

Ubiquity that’s really interesting because I also have ptsd (although atm it is not so bad). It makes sense that I would have been more susceptible to getting it.

i also have ptsd and a history of childhood abuse/neglect.

Im also just so fucking tired all the time and sick of having to justify everything to everyone. I was allowed to work full time when i was 'depressed' but now that this wonderful diagnosis has popped up im suddenly under investigation and not allowed to work.

i have a long term partner, kids and no friends, well no real friends but im almost ok with that.

Out

Could you possibly be anymore offensive???

wow, "a badly formed personality" i am not able to put into words how hurtful that is.

i did read something that some mental health clinicians felt that the title EUPD or BPD was actually harmful and they wanted it to be changed to something different.

I've reported that, Out. It's hideous.

@Pandoraslastchance yes definitely.

I would much prefer EUPD etc to be reclassified in line with complex trauma.

Also @Pandoraslastchance that is undoubtedly discrimination which would be covered under the DDA.

Do you have an advocate ? If not please contact Pohwer and seek advice and support.

We refer many of our ladies to them and they are excellent - give them a google.

I thought psychiatrists ans psychologists were reluctant to diagnose and treat personality "disorders" as there is conflicting/little evidence of their existence.

My ex has a bpd diagnosis, I also suspect he has npd and aspd. He is extremely manipulative, abusive and can be very violent. He doesn't believe he should have to work, he thinks we who do work are slaves and sheep. He thinks he is better looking, more intelligent and can have extremely disordered thinking......he thinks he's fine and it's everyone else who's ill. He will NEVER be cured because he doesn't believe there is anything wrong with him. That is the reality of some pd's!!

@Xylo No - in fact the opposite .

Unfortunately if health care professionals label you with a PD they will usually talk negatively about you behind your back, think it is ok to make completely inappropriate and punishing comments about you in team meetings, be incredibly prejudice, often not believe anything you say, see you as attention seeking, and write you off as untreatable - even if they don't come across that way to your face. It is horrendous. It needs to stop. People who have personality difficulties have often experienced significant trauma or abuse and should not b given more by professionals.

@Lettucepray - it is true for NPD .

That is your experience of your ex-h however many people have personality disorders, and in your everyday contact with them you would not know .

Many educated professional people have personality disorders , students, loving mothers & fathers , nhs staff , i could go on.

Essentially people from all walks of life.

@Legwarmersareohsoeighties i am sorry that is your experience that is sad to hear.

In my area that is most definitely not the case.

NoMudNoLotus

Yes many people have pd's. Some can be treated and some cannot. There are varying degrees of pd's, the first part of treatment is accepting that you have disordered thinking, this can be very challenging for some. Not all are caused by trauma, my ex certainly did suffer trauma but he is still responsible for his actions. It also shouldn't be just about the person with the pd, as very often it is those closest to the person with pd who suffer just as much.

@Lettucepray meaningful others can be part of the solution.

Meaningful others should also be afforded no more or no less access to carer support and carers rights as with all other chronic health conditions either mental or physical health.

NoMud, Unfortunately i am employed by the good old NHS who are absolute shite at dealing with mental health problems of their workers and my chosen profession are even worse.

i am very slowly coming to the conclusion that i may never go back to my career that ive spent 11 years training and working for. Especially with reports that have been submitted by one mental health nurse who "diagnosed" after meeting me for the first time (10 minutes in total) with " very clear and obvious Strong traits of personality disporder" "manipulative" when i expressed that i had self harmed due to being assaulted and "doesnt appear depressed" despite a 12year history of depression.

i have said a number of times that i do not meet the criteria for BPD/EUPD and i fit better into the Aspergers diagnosis (strong family history of diagnosis, 4 out of 6 blood relatives diagnosed with Aspergers)

@Pandoraslastchance again i am sorry that you have had such a negative experience, but i also work for the NHS within mental health in a progressive area , where i work in a team alongside a colleague who has bipolar disorder and a colleague who has a personality disorder- she received such successful treatment that she now works full time . She had been diagnosed with multiple personality disorders but even with a trained eye i never knew this until she told me , and i had worked with her for 2 years. She is one of the funniest most compassionate people i have met in 20 years of working for the NHS.

I appreciate that some or many people have had negative experiences but that doesn't make the whole of the NHS shite and neither does it mean that everybody with a personality disorder feels let down.

I was diagnosed with BPD about eight years ago, when I was 20. I was refused talking therapy after a half an hour assessment (for my suicidal depression), because I was too "narcissistic" and they felt I would be uncooperative. I answered all of their questions to the best of my ability, was polite and scared.
I am also dyspraxic and dyslexic, which as the years go by we are learning more and more about, and we now know that this may well be what causes my meltdowns due to sensory stress.

I describe my BPD as being 17 years old again. Because that is genuinely what it is like, sometimes I get angry, or scared, or sad, and I don't know why, and I lash out. Or I can't keep my house clean and sorted because I have worked a forty hour week and I'm done.
I have an amazing partner who has stood by me throughout it all for seven years, who I am very grateful for.

Oh, and also, PDs are not curable. In many cases, they aren't treatable. Not because the patient isn't compliant, but because no one will give us a singular fucking chance. I was given CBT in the end, it didn't work. We don't know what trauma (if any) sparked my BPD, and attempting to log to mood swings and pervasive thoughts only made the 20 year old me spiral deeper because what it amounted to was spending my days fixating on having "bad thoughts" and why I was having those bad thoughts. Most because I was useless/worthless, but obviously I must be those things if I keep having these thoughts... etc etc etc.

I agree OP. I have been diagnosed with PD and it causes me symptoms of anxiety, paranoia, self injury, eating issues etc. In short, definitely mental health.

Seryph Yeah EUPD/BPD means for me sometimes I behave or feel like I'm an abused and misunderstood 6 year old at other times more like a stroppy 16 year old. It is scary. I think when other people get scared of my reactions they do not realise when I react like this, I am frightened too. And feel very out of control.

Seryph Your experiences in the mental health system sound very like my own. I was fortunate to be offered DBT (Dialectical Behaviour Therapy) and for some time it worked but lately I am finding it harder to make it work and my anxiety has been off-the-wall ridiculous. I have started self harming again but my CPN get sangry with me when I have meltdowns and tells me I am not really anxious or "just doing it for the attention." I lately have just finished having a few top up sessions of DBT again but have been struggling and my therapist basically said they can't help me anymore.

Legawarmersaresoeighties I had very bad abuse trauma which has left me in a fight or flight state but MH teams say I am too unstable to do trauma work. They say DBT is only treatment for people like me and as I have "failed" at that, then they do not want to engage with me anymore. being discharged in 5 days time.