Has anyone been diagnosed with eupd/BPD?

[Namechange1991x]

I'm so confused and upset to have had this dropped on me at a perinatal discharge meeting, with no discussion about it and now I have no one to ask. I have read it's highly stigmatised 🥺🥺

Anyone?

Hiya didnt want to read and run!
I have been diagnosed with it also. It is very highly stigmatised unfortunately. Ive found with the right support, and talking therapy im doing really well now! I have 2 children, currently pregnant with n3 and a normal family life. I chose not to tell anyone apart from the supportive people in my life, close family and friends as I do worry about how others will think off me. If you have any questions please feel free to ask and I will answer as best as I can.
It is OK and it isn't as bad as its made out to be, especially when you are receiving help to manage it x

I got diagnosed in my 20s and I’m in my late 40s now. It’s a horrible diagnosis - imo not because of the stigma, but because bpd is such an emotionally agonising thing to live with!

I often equate it to chronic pain, except it’s emotional rather than physical.

Now for the good news - it IS treatable and you CAN get better. Back when I got diagnosed, all 9 of the symptoms/markers (the ones you need 5 out of 9 for a dx) applied to me, now it’s anywhere between 2-4 (so I wouldn’t even meet the criteria for diagnosis nowadays!). I’ve had numerous different talking therapies and meds over the years and it’s all about finding ones that work for you and benefit you.

Did you get any mentions of therapy/meds/etc or was the diagnosis literally just sprung on you without any mention of follow ups?

One last thing: any stigma surrounding BPD (including from professionals) is grossly outdated and mistaken. I don’t want to hijack your thread by banging on about this but I fully believe that the malpractice faced by sufferers of bpd is what caused the stigma imo - professionals didn’t know how to deal with us or what fully caused the disorder, so made out that everyone with it was difficult and all that bs. My friends & loved ones with BPD are the most intuitive, caring, compassionate people I’ve ever met. ❤️

Yes. For me, being diagnosed was actually a massive relief because it meant I finally had a reason for feeling the way I had been for years, I finally got given medication that eases symptoms I thought I’d have to live with forever, and I had a better understanding of the reasons behind why I struggle emotionally, what the triggers are and how to manage it. Can you see it as a positive to contextualise your feelings and work out how to manage them? I’ve been very open about it, I’ve even tweeted about having it, I’ve had nothing but support and some curiosity from friends. If people misunderstand it or think badly of me because of it that’s their problem and their ignorance

Many women with ASD are mis-diagnosed with so-called "personality disorders". Might be worth you reading up on ASD or ADD/ADHD in women unless you really feel that the criteria for EUPD fits you.

Hi OP I was diagnosed with EUPD 10 years ago, but only discovered the diagnosis tucked away in a corner of a NHS care plan letter years later! Nobody saw fit to tell me at the time, and with hindsight the diagnosis would've been useful if I'd had it sooner. As at least one PP has said, it made sense. I've worried about the stigma and still do sometimes, but mostly I've accepted the implications of the label for the way it informs me about ways of thinking, feeling and relating I have that are difficult to manage. I think it's a continuum and you can start to gauge where you are on that scale, and how it explains your past inner life and behaviour. There are probably quite individual ways of being EU, and different outcomes for individuals. One of my EU triggers was alcohol, another was sex, and these days I don't do either because it's safer for me and other people. But like I say, that's an example that might be unique to me. I'm a gay man and was abused in various ways as a kid and I definitely feel my BPD began in some very damaging neglect back then. I can't change the past, I have to live with how it bent me out of shape instead. It suits mental health professionals to pathologise me, so I go along with it and get various bits of support as a result which, since for a number of reasons I can't work, suits me now. It's a two way street.

Thank you all so much for replying. It is really helpful to hear your experiences.

It was sprung on me and I queried it to be told 'that's what we are seeing', with no explanation. She said also due to my life experiences. Just because someone has been through things doesn't mean they have a disordered personality. I worry this is given to women who have been abused, simply because they don't know what else to do with us. I've researched heavily online and it's been upsetting. A site for medical professionals suggested that we are likely to need testing for STIs because of unsafe sex. I mean really! I'm 29 and have been with two people. What an awful awful assumption to make.
I said I don't agree with it.
I do agree I feel emotions highly. I do and that is so difficult as I take ages to level back again, say after an upsetting chat (bit like the one I had about this!).
They said about managing emotions help or something and that I need medication too? I'm currently on sertraline but not sure it's doing anything, but I've got to engage apparently. I am so grateful for the help I've been given but I am upset this was dropped on me with no time to talk about it. Google was.not the best place to go!
Thank you all so much. X