Just to be upfront, I don't need anyone to tell me the symptoms of BPD or any websites with info about BPD because I already know about these.
My question is, how do I go about getting diagnosed? I have several symptoms and I would like to know clinically whether or not I have it. I don't want to see a psychiatrist and act like I've already diagnosed myself because I know they don't like that. Do I just tell them I feel I have some symptoms consistent with BPD and I am concerned? Or would that look like I'm self-diagnosing?
Any advice appreciated. Thanks.
Answer:
Borderline is a very controversial diagnosis in the mental health community and an even more difficult disorder to get accurately diagnosised. I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder at age 21 and it wasn't until this year at age 28 that I was diagnoised with Borderline Personality. A general rule of thumb according to my therapist is that it a patient must be free of drugs or alcohol for 6 months before a diagnosis is made, or in my case the bipolar disorder had to be stabalized before a diagnosis was made.
Borderline is a personality disorder, versus a chemical imbalance which puts it in a different catergory. If you have read about the disorder and believe that many of the symptoms fit you might want to reseach to find people who treat Borderline, or if there are specific psychatrists in your area who do. In general, when you first speak to a psychatrist they do an evaluation where they ask you zillions of questions and then get information from there to make a diagnosis or suggest treatment. You could share you concerns during this process as well.
Have you taken a look at any of Marsha Linehan's work. She wrote a book on the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in the treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder. The reason I ask is because she gives lots of detailed information about the disorder and presents a tremendous amount of information. When I was first diagnosed I was very resistent, but the way the information was presented in some of her books, could clearly help me identify the symptoms and see the behavior patterns more clearly.
I would advise, in my humble opinion, to find out who in your area treats the disorder, or what hospital in your area has a good mental health program and use that as a resource. If you get yourself an appointment to be evaluated, know your family history and be prepared to answer any and all questions they might ask.
Clinically the DSM-IV will show you the criteria, how many symptoms you must have, which ones count under specific categories and the like. You can access it online too.
Borderline is not always treated with drugs, other methods such as DBT (Dialectial Behavioral Therapy) %26 CBT (Cognitive Behavior Therapy) and other are more effective but definately not easier.
Long answer. In summary, if you want to get it checked out, reseach and find someone good. If they are good, they aren't going to diagnose you in just a few days it might take a while. In the meantime keep researching...the more informed you are they better.
Good luck!
Start with your doctor and explain this to Him/her. He/she should then refer you for a psychological evaluation.
You should see a doctor since your concerned. Simply tell her or him that you think you have BPD and why. It doesn't sound like self-diagnosing, it just sounds like normal concern. The doctor will listen to what you have to say and make a diagnosis based on her medical knowledge and experience. She'll most likely be very glad to have a patient so is so well informed!
I don't get it, just down below you said that you did talk to a psychiatrist and he invalidated you...so it appears you already are seeing one.
Do you know what your diagnosis is? Have you talked to him about your diagnosis? You are probably already have the diagnosis.
Follow up: Even after one consultation, the therapist must slap a diagnosis on you...you already have a diagnosis so you might want to find out from the psychiatrist if you have already been labeled with BPD.
Go to a Psychologist and ask for a psychological evaluation that includes an MMPI exam. It takes usually around 8 hours of interview, and then the exam which takes a couple hours. Then the therapist writes up a report based upon the interviews and your exam results. It costs an average of 700-1200 bucks but it's worth it if you're genuinely interested in any diagnosis.
A counselor, Psychiatrist, therapist would be the way to go. I would write down all the sx that match yours and be honest and tell them what you think. GIve examples.
A psychologist would be a great start tooo. The pscyhiatrist kinda scare me becasue they just prescribe meds and people that have BPD need therapy. I mean you know. YOu probbly know more about this than any of us mental health people. Good luck...
go to a psychologist ask them i know you need to have neuropsych testing to find out for sure not just the dsm 4r a university near by that has a psychiatric research inpatient hospitol or even the part of a medical research psych depart ment could help you may have read already that dialectical behavioral therapy and cognotive behavioral therapy will work the best if you do indeed have borderline personality disorder
and if so a group for dialectical behavioral therapy skill traing would be a great thing if there is one in the area in your state marsha linehan is the formost athority on this subject the skill traing book can be ordered or in many book stores nation wide. i think her web site is like behavioraltech.com or somthing like that rune marsha linehan through google or yahoo might help i hope this does help some:)
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