Mental health providers can be reluctant to diagnose BPD and other personality disorders due to diagnosis criteria, insurance, and stigma. Not diagnosing BPD, where appropriate, can adversely affect treatment.
Fear of Patients Lashing Out. Individuals with symptoms of BPD are particularly sensitive to perceived criticism. This increases the likelihood that they will feel attacked when a therapist attempts to offer suggestions or insights. This often leads to lashing out.
BPD can be difficult to diagnose because the symptoms are similar to other mental illnesses, such as depression, psychosis and bipolar disorder. Depending on your situation, one session may not be long enough to decide which diagnosis best fits your symptoms. You may be also be offered different treatments.
In some situations, therapists won't provide a diagnosis because they don't think it's essential to the recovery process. Many professionals believe that labels can cause clients to concentrate on the wrong aspects of their mental health condition.
Most professionals will use a combination of assessments and an interview that may take place anywhere over one to six hours. Feel free to ask your mental health professional how they assess for and diagnose borderline personality disorder.
If you think you might have BPD, it's important to get an accurate diagnosis so you can begin an effective treatment program.
One study cited that almost 40% of people who were diagnosed with BPD were provided with a misdiagnosis of BD at some point in their lifetime in comparison to only 10% of people in the general population receiving a misdiagnosis of BD. The exact reasoning for this high rate of misdiagnosis is debated among researchers.
Let the therapist know that you are interested in an assessment and treatment. Describe some of your symptoms. You can even mention that you think you may have BPD. Take the opportunity to ask some initial questions.
Clinicians can be reluctant to make a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (BPD). One reason is that BPD is a complex syndrome with symptoms that overlap many Axis I disorders. This paper will examine interfaces between BPD and depression, between BPD and bipolar disorder, and between BPD and psychoses.
Many mental health professionals do not have a lot exposure or education on BPD, so it's easy for BPD to be misdiagnosed as something else such as bipolar disorder since both disorders involve shifting moods and periods of depression.
Unfortunately, it's not uncommon for individuals with BPD to be misdiagnosed. In fact, studies show that 40% of people with this condition have received a wrong diagnosis at some point in their lifetime.
Consider Your Reasons for Wanting to Quit BPD Therapy
Common causes include: You don't feel like the therapy is working. You don't like your therapist. You don't have time to attend sessions.
Personality disorders, including borderline personality disorder, are diagnosed based on a: Detailed interview with your doctor or mental health provider. Psychological evaluation that may include completing questionnaires. Medical history and exam.
How are personality disorders treated? Personality disorders are some of the most difficult disorders to treat in psychiatry. This is mainly because people with personality disorders don't think their behavior is problematic, so they don't often seek treatment.
Unstable sense of self, which may involve frequent shifts in goals, values, and career plans. Frequently changing your feelings toward other people. Feeling like you don't exist. Frequent feelings of emptiness or boredom.
One of the most common misdiagnoses for BPD is bipolar disorder. Both conditions have episodes of mood instability. When you have bipolar disorder, your mood may shift from depression to mania, in which you experience elation, elevated energy levels and a decreased need for sleep.
In the general population, it is estimated that approximately 20% of men with BPD also present ASPD [5].
BPD in particular is one of the lesser-known mental illnesses, but all the same it is one of the hardest to reckon with. (Some people dislike the term so much they prefer to refer to emotionally unstable personality disorder.)
To evaluate crying behavior, we used a set of specially designed tools. Compared to non-patients, BPD patients showed the anticipated higher crying frequency despite a similar crying proneness and ways of dealing with tears.
Myth: BPD Is a Rare Condition
BPD is not a rare condition. Many people have heard of schizophrenia, which occurs in more than 2 million people in the United States alone. BPD is more common than not only schizophrenia but bipolar disorder as well.
Many people who live with borderline personality disorder don't know they have it and may not realize there's a healthier way to behave and relate to others.
People with BPD fear abandonment and have trouble maintaining relationships. Nevertheless, they tend to lie, which ruins trust and intimacy, fosters resentment, and harms the very relationships they fear losing. Many family members and friends of those with BPD cite lying as a major problem in their relationships.
The following are examples of possible long-term effects that untreated BPD can inflict upon a person: Demoralized sense of self. Repeated job losses. Inability to develop and maintain healthy relationships.