Lived Experience Forum

[BlueBay]

I need some advice:

Can anyone pls tell me the difference between Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar.

After seeing this new psych yesterday and he said that he thinks I don't have BPD; I started reading about Bipolar.  There are a few similarities.  But now I am confused. I need it explained in 'simple terms' !!!

I'm now thinking after what I read and if I understood it correctly, that maybe, I have Bipolar.  But I will bring this up with the psych at next visit.

[CherryBomb]

Hi @BlueBay

Getting a diagnosis can be confusing. Can I ask if the doc changed the diagnosis from BPD to Bipolar?

Perhaps a few membes can help here. I believe that @MoonGal and @mrkotter have bipolar. They've written about it here and here. There's also this SANE factsheet. I'm not a pyschologist or anything but generally, I think that bipolar is characterised by fluctuating moods - 'ups' and 'downs'. These moods tend to be more extreme than the typical ups and downs than most people. So when someone is 'up', it means that they can experience mania (e.g., high energy levels, inappropriate behaviour, irritability, creativity. When people are down, they can experience depression. Though how these fluctuate can depend on what type of bipolar you have.

For BPD, there's this factsheet. @Ali585, @Ellie @Billamba have written about it here and here. My understanding is that BPD is characterised by intense emotions that are difficult to regulate. Underpinning these emotions are a fear of abandonment and rejection, which can make it hard to maintain relationships. 

Hope this helps a bit. I would encourage you to speak to you doc to clarify what he means. It's great that you're coming on here. There's nothing quite the expertise of lived experiences. Hopefully some other can share their experiences. What can others add here?

CherryBomb

[BlueBay]

Hi @CherryBomb

No my diagnosis hasn't been changed as yet.  It's just that this new psych told me yesterday after only a 1 hr assessment that he thinks I don't have BPD. That's why when i got home i started looking up Bipolar.

I could be completely wrong.  i do have quite a few of the criterias for BPD (suicidal thoughts, self harm at times; abandonment issues; black and white thinking, self image issues, eating issuesand also when I am emotional it takes a long time for the intensity to drop back down). 

I guess I need to wait until the psych finishes his assessment. Seeing him in 2 weeks time.

[mrkotter]

@CherryBomb you're on the money regarding bipolar. The only thing I'd like to add is there are distinct manic and depressed episodes. Sufferers go from one episode to the next. There may be periods of good health between episodes but the disorder is cyclic. So @BlueBay this is something you can maybe reflect on to see if your experiencing something similar. Always happy to answer questions if you have any.

Hang in there though - it does take a bit to get a clear diagnosis. I suggest trying to not think about it too much (I know that's hard) and try to some things you find fun.

[BlueBay]

Thank you @mrkotter for your reply.

I am pretty sure that I don't have the distinctive highs. Lows yes definitely and I feel like that for quite a while (days even weeks).

I have noticed a couple of times that when out with friends I will be on a 'high' for a while and then it drops back down to a very low like the next day.  That's happened a few times.  And with not much alochol (1-2 glasses)!!!

I will wait till I see my psych in 2 weeks. I appreciate your comments

[BeYo]

Hi @BlueBay,

I was diagnosed bipolar 5 years ago but I (and my friends) can see that I'm different from people who have bipolar.I started going back to see a psychologist 2 months ago.

Apparently I have comorbid bipolar, PTSD and BPD. I'd like to think that it doesn't mean my disorder got bigger; instead those diagnoses identify the details of my disorder.

Those disorders somewhat decrease and increase each other symptons.

It took my psychologist at least 5 x 1.5 hours meetings till he mentioned BPD and PTSD to me.

Once again, I'd like to think that everyone is different.

Gettting diagnosed with one disorder doesn't mean I got all the symptons of that particular disorder.

[Drac0]

Hi @BlueBay

It can be very hard to determine between the two as there can be a lot of crossover, along with the possibility of having both. I read somewhere the other day that about 15% of people with BPD also suffer from bipolar, along with even higher chances of having other types of mental illness (they called them co-morbidities). I'll try to find the link.

Here it is, from the National Education Aliance Borderline Personality Disorder website.

I've been diagnosed as bipolar I, but found I tick a lot of boxes for BPD as well. Could I have both? Sure, but right now things aren't to bad for me so I'll settle for just the bipolar at the moment.

There are 'tests' you can do online & with both illnesses I seem to score high. The Black Dog Institute has some great information on bipolar along with a screening test for bipolar. With a score of 22 or more reportedly (when combined with depression) it has an 80% chance of detecting bipolar. I manage to more than double that. Whenever I do a BPD test I usually get around the higher levels.

I guess the big thing when thinking about bipolar is the highs. I have manic episodes so it's easy to see when I'm well above any normal level of just feeling good. With bipolar II you don't get to that level so at times it can be hard to realise you are over the top.

You say when you go out with friends you sometimes feel high for a while, but is this just a normal thing associated with being out, relaxing with friends or is it more? Does it happen at other times? You have no control when hypomania strikes, so if you only feel this way in certain situations there has to be some doubt. And it's hard to gauge how high you really are in a social setting unless it starts going to the extremes.

I guess we have to leave it to the professionals to work it out for us. I'm glad your psych decided you need more assessment rather than just doing it all in an hour. Sounds like they want to get it right. Because of the impact any diagnosis can have on your life it is so important to get it correct. Hope you can get it sorted soon.

Take care, stay safe.

[BlueBay]

Hi @Drac0 and @BeYo

From what i have read there is a lot of cross over between the two disorders. But I know that I don't have the highs like I have read. As for BPD - I tend to have 5-6 of the 9 criterias for BPD. 

But yesterday I told my therapist that this new psych has said he thinks i may not have BPD but he hasn't finished his assessment yet. My therapist said to me 'why do you need a label'. That was a good question but for me I need a label so I can address the issues I have. I want to know do I have BPD or not and if not then what do I have? I have lots of symptoms I would like to get some sort of answer.

As for the online testing for BPD/Bi Polar - I have done them and I score quite high for BPD and I don't think it was high for BiPolar (can't remember).

For now I will leave it up to this new psych and see what the outcome of his assessment is.  And then from there we can see if (a) i am on the right meds and (b) what treatment to go with.

Let you know as soon as I know.

[Drac0]

Hey @BlueBay hope tomorrow goes well.

Doesn't your therapist understand it's not a label you want or need? It's a correct diagnosis & treatment plan you're after. Yes, people shouldn't get a label just to live it, to justify their actions. But it is something that can help get things right. Saying you don't need a label often feels to me like they're saying you don't need a diagnosis. It just frustrates me at times, sorry.

Take care & I hope things can get worked our quickly.

[BlueBay]

I know I'm hearing you @Drac0

This is why I am so frustrated, I can't get it into his thick head that I would like to know what mental illness I have.  To me it feels like he is just fobbing me off. And he is not taking me seriously. Well I may just have a chat with my new psych tomorrow and see what he says. Let's hope he doens't fob me off as well.

When he said that to me yesterday, I came home and wnted to self harm and do other things - just to show him what I have, what symptoms I have. But I didn't.

It just frustrates me so much.  I feel like no one is taking me seriously.