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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To ask if you think eupd is stigmatised

56 replies

Happiestyearofmylife · 29/08/2021 13:45

Dd feels it is her worker said it might just be how she feels. I don’t know much about it so just wondering what other people though?

OP posts:
SheABitSpicyToday · 29/08/2021 13:47

Yes. Look up threads about it on here and see some of the awful things people say about it.

XenoBitch · 29/08/2021 13:50

It absolutely is.

goodwinter · 29/08/2021 13:50

Yes it is. But honestly, due to previous experience, I would not want any sort of relationship with someone with EUPD/BPD unless it was very well-managed.

CorrBlimeyGG · 29/08/2021 13:53

Yes, as shown in the comment at 13.50. Like most conditions, EUPD can present in very different ways. Judge people as individuals, not a condition.

lilseb · 29/08/2021 13:54

I have the condition, and yes I think it is - had some strange comments from mental health workers before, although luckily most of my experiences are OK. I personally think it's not that well known in the public which helps, but it's actually within healthcare where people are aware of the disorder where the problems are.

But she shouldn't internalise that - you can live a long and broadly happy life and can achieve great things.

helentomelon · 29/08/2021 13:55

Absolutely. So many people who don't know about my diagnosis have made jokes about it.

Also people at work saying they'd never hire someone with it, not knowing I do.

Mine is very well managed to the untrained eye

WhoNeedsaManOfTheWorld · 29/08/2021 13:56

Yes
I'm also suspicious of any diagnosis that is largely given to females rather than males
My dc is probably going to get this diagnosis. Trauma in childhood and attachment issues. Imo is a wrong diagnosis and the trauma should be the focus

esloquehay · 29/08/2021 13:57

Yep, BPD/EUPD is hugely stigmatised. However, it's not within good reason, in a lot of instances.
I've been diagnosed with BPD since 2007 and I know that the behaviours that I have manifested in the past when in crisis have been pretty bloody hard for those around me to deal with.
Best think if you care about anyone with BPD is to educate yourself AND protect yourself with iron clad boundaries.

esloquehay · 29/08/2021 13:59

*without good reason

Potteringshed · 29/08/2021 13:59

Yes. Hugely. Look at how quickly a negative comment appeared on this thread. I've also seen some terrible treatment of people with this condition from medical professionals - my best friend has the diagnosis and has said if she had her time again she would never have tried to get help - the label means so many of her real issues are written off as "attention seeking", many therapists just won't see her, people make terrible assumptions about her behaviour - it's awful.

ATieLikeRichardGere · 29/08/2021 14:00

Yes. I think because people really struggle to think of it as an illness.

RandomMess · 29/08/2021 14:09

Stigmatised and likely often misdiagnosed.

Awalkintime · 29/08/2021 14:10

@WhoNeedsaManOfTheWorld

Yes I'm also suspicious of any diagnosis that is largely given to females rather than males My dc is probably going to get this diagnosis. Trauma in childhood and attachment issues. Imo is a wrong diagnosis and the trauma should be the focus
Wholeheartedly agree. Someone's personality isn't broken and needing fixing, the reason for the behaviour has a root and this needs to be the focus.
StrangeToSee · 29/08/2021 16:26

Yes, from someone who worked on an inpatient mental health ward for years. All personality disorders seemed to carry a stigma but particularly EUPD. It’s a diagnosis given to emotionally unstable men and women (mostly young) who don’t fit any other diagnosis and display certain characteristics like low mood, repeated minor self harm, overdoses without suicidal intent (eg they rung an ambulance straight after the OD), risky and impulsive behaviours, repeatedly seeking admission, claiming to be depressed or psychotic but observed not to be when they think staff aren’t watching (eg responding to unseen stimuli but only when staff are present), psyeudoseizures etc. Often the person is emotionally very fragile and a trigger like falling out with a friend can send them into a rage or to consider or attempt suicide. Tragically many do end their own lives but often as ‘death through misadventure’ (eg risky behaviour not an intent to die).

Sadly I think a lot of people are mis diagnosed but once that EUPD label is in place MH teams seem to treat them differently or show frustration when they’re admitted (in front of the MDT not the patient). Sometimes I think depression and anxiety disorders are misdiagnosed as EUPD, or a patient shows behavioural symptoms so the team jump too quickly to EUPD.

EUPD means they can be put on the 3 day hospital pathway (sent home after 3 days as hospital is thought to worsen EUPD) so I suspect the diagnosis is sometimes given when there are very few beds, or patients with more serious disorders needing beds that can’t be managed in the community.

I’ve met some really lovely, kind, caring patients with EUPD.

Unfortunately it’s very hard to treat (DBT being the best option).

Funnylittlefloozie · 29/08/2021 16:34

Its interesting though that many people with EUPD get very narky about people making nasty comments, but "narcissistic", which is also a diagnosable PD, is probably the most freely-used slur on this whole site.

AMistakePlusKeleven · 29/08/2021 16:37

I’m sure narcissists don’t like being snarked at either? I’d be inclined to think diagnosed EUPD is more common that diagnosed NPD too.

CorrBlimeyGG · 29/08/2021 16:48

"narcissistic", which is also a diagnosable PD, is probably the most freely-used slur on this whole site.

Calling a man a narcissist/ narc is as demeaning as calling a woman emotionally unstable. Both are done by people with little understanding of mental illness and personality disorder, and often, little insight into their own behaviour.

I suspect there's a strong correlation between people that use the narc term, and those that stereotype those with EUPD.

StrangeToSee · 29/08/2021 17:15

"narcissistic", which is also a diagnosable PD, is probably the most freely-used slur on this whole site.

Women also get diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder.

And antisocial personality disorder is a fairly common diagnosis for both males and females. I’ve also seen ‘antisocial personality disorder with traits of psychopathic personality disorder’ on medical notes.

EUPD was re-named Complex PTSD at some point due to stigma, at least for patients whose symptoms were trauma-related.

EUPD traits is often confused with rapid cycling bipolar, which means sometimes patients with bipolar get taken off lithium and higher rate PIP and mis-diagnosed with EUPD. If they then have a manic episode and are thought to have both it gets changed to ‘bipolar with EUPD traits’ or ‘bipolar with behavioural traits’. But the higher rate PIP is harder to re-instate.

celestebellman · 29/08/2021 17:31

Complex PTSD and EUPD are distinct diagnoses. There is some overlap though, in that both are rooted in trauma. In Complex PTSD the ‘trauma’ symptoms would be seen to predominate (flashbacks, avoidance, hyper vigilance, anxiety), whereas in EUPD there is emotional instability along with issues in relation to sense of self and interpersonal relationships (stable sense of identity, self-direction, intimacy, empathy) along with the emotional instability component. As said, there is overlap, the same patient may be given both diagnoses either together or at different points. Psychiatric diagnoses are notoriously subjective anyway, their main point is to guide management and give the person a way of trying to understand and manage their difficulties.

There is an issue with EUPD being diagnosed as BPAD, not so much the other way round.

Unfortunately yes, the condition is stigmatised, 2 well known studies have shown this, the famous one by Appleby in 1990s (famously dubbed PD ‘the patients psychiatrists dislike’) and was replicated in around 2017 showing the same.

I work in mental health. Most people I would say are actually empathetic or try to be. Obviously not everyone though. The fact that patients who present with a lot of risk and are difficult to manage lead to a great deal of anxiety among staff can affect attitudes, hence importance of effective supervision/ reflective practice to support staff and by extension patients.

There is lots of evidence that PD is not as stable a diagnosis as once assumed, it tends to improve with time in a lot of people, with effective management and if people are able to develop effective coping strategies and manage stressors.

celestebellman · 29/08/2021 17:32

Also, the trend towards co-production in mental health and service usual initiatives such as peer support workers with lived experience of the condition has really helped.

Grapewrath · 29/08/2021 17:38

I work with lots of vulnerable people- anyone who has more than depression and anxiety seems to get diagnosed with eupd. It seems like it’s the diagnosis of choice when HCPs don’t want to investigate further

OhWhyNot · 29/08/2021 17:47

Yes sadly it is. It’s misunderstood like schizophrenia which people also jump to conclusions about.

Funnylittlefloozie narcissist is very over used. It is very unusual for someone to be diagnosed and we all have narcissistic traits many people have to a level that often make either people’s lives difficult as well as their own but can lead what others perceive as successful lives

Princessandthepeas · 29/08/2021 18:17

Yes. Hugely stigmatised by professionals.

A woman with a EUPD diagnosis and a young woman with a bipolar diagnosis could behave in exactly that same way, and the the bipolar one would be treated much more compassionately and treated as being unwell, with the EUPD much more likely to attract “manipulative” and “attention seeking” labels and to be denied any real support because of the idea that they need to “learn to self soothe”.

Theloftmonster · 29/08/2021 18:20

I have CPTSD which is often misdiagnosed as BPD. Perhaps that is a more appropriate diagnosis. Not all doctors seem to be aware of it

Sunshinedrops85 · 29/08/2021 18:42

As someone with the condition I know it is.

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