nisinirvana asked this question on 4/6/2000:
I was diagnosed with BPD in March of 1999. I have had mental/emotional problems my entire life but generally dropped out of therapy within the first six weeks(therapy started for me at age 10)for various reasons. When I stated going lat year again I was given medication for the first time ever, wow it had made an enormous diference. My question is my therapist does not think I have BPD she thinks I am quite simply an Adult Child of Alcoholic/Codependents that has had an exssevie amount of. When studding both issues I see they are very very similar in nature.Can anyone give me more info on the correlation between the two, is there any? Should I believe my Psychiatrist who had me fill out a bunch of tests and talked to me for an hour.
Imhere2listen_help gave this response on 4/6/2000:
I studied your question for some time before sending an answer because I wanted to make sure that I was offering, in my opinion, information that could help you. My opinion, and that's all it is, an opinion is that from the information you shared, I wonder have you ever considered the possibility that the ACOA is the core from where the borderline personality traits came from. There is a great deal of similarity in a lot of problems, but each has 1 or 2 things which seperate it from another. One thing, (being borderline myself) I can share with you is that I don't believe that because one person who is a "professional" tells you something that it makes it valid. I'm sure by the amount of therapists you've been through you know that as well as I do. I have a couple of suggestions for you to help you to discern if you truly are borderline or not. You know you better than anyone, if you are willing to look at what is going on. I do know this for a fact. A lot of Doctors don't want to deal with BPD because they are "complicated" and "draining." A Dr. that someone working for a newspaper attempted to interview, declined, because he was afraid if he was listed in the interview, people might think he treated people with BPD, and he refuses to treat them. There is a book out that can be very helpful, it's in paperback, and it's called "Lost in the Mirror" and if you can not find it in the library, I believe it's worth the price to read it. My main suggestion to you, is do more research. Go to your search engine, type in Borderline Personality Disorder, and read all about what the people themselves have to say. One thing that most people seem to ignore, is you are not "Borderline", that is not you, that is a part of your make up. BPD has an up side has well that people seem to forget to mention. BP are often intelligent, witty, talented, human beings and when feeling good, usually people really enjoy being around them. They can be the "life of the party." Empathy and understanding are traits as well. Those are all good attributes, and I would really think about doing research on your computer, and reading the book I suggested earlier. The Doctor who wrote it is Dr. Richard A. Moskovitz, and is listed in the health;psychology section of bookstores. It is 12.95. One last thing I would like to share with you, is that BP are always in one of three stages. You see one doctor in one stage, he gives you the diagnosis, you are in another stage, she gives you her diagnosis. This happens a lot, and people are given a whole bunch of disorders before truly finding out how to really heal. Please read the info. on your computer, and remember, you do not have to have every symptom. I have not been a person who inflicts injury on myself, like a great deal of others do, I have my own form of self-mutilation, so please take a look within, and think about the possibility that the ACOA is the root, and from it stemmed BPD. I am not a doctor, and I may be wrong, but I finally realized that there was a root to my behavior, which has made being Borderline worse. I hope you find some help, and please remember Borderline does NOT mean you are ON THE EDGE OF INSANITY. So many people automatically think that is what the diagnosis means. Take care, and if you like, I would really like to hear what results you come up with. One last thing, I do not believe I can state clearly enough, I don't believe it is ever good to GO BY ONE person's diagnosis. I hope this helps.
The average rating for this answer is 5.
nisinirvana rated this answer a 5.
yes it does help, thanks:)