Borderline personality disorder

[Winterwooliesareback]

My current therapist has told me that I’m showing traits of personality disorder. When I looked it up online, I identify with many and it’s scared me.
I’m currently on estalopram for anxiety.
Very worried I can’t be ‘cured’. Though there is mixed reviews online regarding this. I would die if I thought this would be my life forever.
Has anyone lived with this?

I was given a BPD diagnosis but always thought it was wrong (despite relating to a lot of the criteria) Im now being assessed for autism and ADHD. In fact everyone I know (a few) who’ve been diagnosed with BPD actually had autism, ADHD, C-PTSD or a combination. So…. I’d keep asking questions. It might be right for you, but it might not be. Ultimately it doesn’t define you.

While BPD has some stigma associated with it, my psychiatrist also says it's one of the 'best' diagnoses to have because it can be really really helped with DBT to the extent that it's pretty much curable for a number of patients (if they put the work in).

@Winterwooliesareback

My partner has bpd and I only recently found out. Like you I was initially shocked but I’m looking more into it now and it looks like there is a lot of support available (also great online support forums). I think it’s important to keep in mind that this doesn’t define you at all and it looks like many people are living perfectly well alongside their bpd. Wishing you all the best :)

@BuffaloCauliflower How did they do your diagnosis? My therapist isn’t medically trained(but she’s bloody fantastic) though she sees massive traits, though towards end of convo this week she thought possibly CPTSD instead.

@mynameiscalypso Thank you for that as according to Dr Google, it’s mostly saying there’s no cure for it. Have you had DBT?

I have BPD (as well as C-PTSD, which has a lot of similar symptoms as mentioned by PP but I am 100% sure I do have BPD, I identify with every single symptom).

I'm just about to start intense DBT which apparently is amazing for BPD. I'll let you know how it goes!

It's know as EUPD in the UK.

I don't think it actually exists tbh. I think it's largely autism in women and often trauma/emotional neglect in childhood.

@Pumpkinprince55 big hugs to you both. How does your partner’s symptoms present? I’m feeling all different emotions at the moment about it. Therapist said it possibly could be CPTSD also. According to google, symptoms are very similar?
I had severe trauma as a teen and it could be from that possibly

My view, like others, is that BPD/EUPD can almost always be explained in terms of complex trauma and anxious attachment , based in experiences of abuse/neglect/an unstable and invalidating environment in early life. Personally, I dislike the term personality disorder as it literally labels someone’s entire self as ‘disordered’ and is an outdated term which I hope one day soon seems as strange as some of the other psychiatric diagnostic terms (such as ‘feeble minded cretin’ (!!!)) which have faded into obscurity or been discredited over the decades. DBT is effective (and trauma focused therapy such as EMDR on top) but you don’t always need an official PD diagnosis to access that. Good luck!

OP, your therapist may be fantastic but if she's not medically trained then she cannot diagnose BPD & she shouldn't really be trying to. It's a contentious diagnosis & is often given where ASD or C-PTSD would be more appropriate.
Please don't feel your been labelled with a lifetime condition.

I’m not sure mental health conditions can be ‘cured’, it’s usually about managing them, identifying thoughts and modifying your reaction through therapy, taking medication etc.

To be honest I never noticed until he suddenly had a major set back and told me about it, so he is probably not very stable but it’s likely because he has not engaged with help. Quite impulsive, chaotic and self destructive when bad, the most amazing person when good.
Reading your update I’d wait jumping to conclusions before you get a “proper” diagnosis so you don’t wreck your head for no reason :)

BPD/EUPD cannot be diagnosed by a therapist. It is a serious mental illness which can only be diagnosed by a psychiatrist.

Are you a psychiatrist or researcher in this field?

That question is for @Nopenopenopenopenopenope

‘Not medically trained’ might be a hint.

I wasn’t referring to the therapist @Supersimkin2 I was questioning the poster who said they don’t think BPD exists.

Another one echoing all the previous posters in saying be sure to check autism first because often personality disorders are diagnosed for women well before CPTSD + Autism are ever considered. And I hear once you have a PD misdiagnosis it’s incredibly hard to get it removed from your NHS records.

Researcher of anecdata, sure.

But no, it's just my opinion based on knowing a number of people who have been diagnosed with it but actually transpires there are better explanations. I look forward to the day this diagnosis is consigned to the bin!