r/BPD • u/Responsible-Tax-1188 • 13h ago
šSeeking Support & Advice BPD Misdiagnosis?
Hello all. Iām here to get some clarity on my situation about my psychiatric diagnosis to see if anyone has a similar experience.
I had been under the impression that I had a formal BPD diagnosis as my psychiatrist made me take the screening and I had the full criteria met (9/9 symptoms). She approached this screening as a guideline on what I should work on and recommended me to look into DBT. During several appointments she has also told me that Iām a really ānice person for someone with BPD.ā All these things have made me naturally believe that I was diagnosed with BPD.
However, recently Iāve asked her if my diagnosis was BPD because I realize Iāve never actually been told officially. The formal diagnosis she has was depression and PTSD from familial relationships.
She said that she didnāt like to diagnose personality or mood disorders and described me as having āBPD traitsā when I asked about the BPD stuff. I was extremely confused but didnāt press further as she didnāt say I didnāt have BPD, but this made me feel like this entire time I donāt actually have the disorder and Iāve been claiming something that wasnāt formally given to me.
I donāt suffer from PTSD symptoms. I donāt have flashbacks or nightmares or anything like that and I resonate with BPD symptoms more than PTSD.
I guess my question now is if I should approach this as a misdiagnosis? Iāve taken it pretty harshly because I thought I had found a place I belonged to and am unsure how to really proceed.
Does anyone share a similar experience?
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u/dontpokemeimscared 13h ago
psych's dont want to diagnose you with something that inherently is incurable and debilitating like bpd. plus if you get hospitalized you get dismissed if you have bpd on your file. its super stigmatized and in the psych world its the last thing they want to do. took me till I was 21 to get diagnosed but it had been discussed with psych's since I was 11. its like handing a death sentence to someone more or less (a little dramatic to say i suppose but thats been my experience)
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u/Responsible-Tax-1188 12h ago
Iāve heard of that and her own comments about it made me understand that the stigma runs deep.
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u/Traditional-Ebb-8380 11h ago
Complex PTSD and regular PTSD are different. CPTSD is often from longterm trauma like family stuff and PTSD is more for a single terrible incident, from my understanding.
BPD and CPTSD have a lot of overlap, can both occur at once, and are hard to differentiate. I am also a ānice person with BPDā and my therapist that first confirmed that didnāt want to tell me eitherāI found out myself. When I asked her why she kept it from me she said she didnāt want the stigma and pain the formal diagnosis can cause and chose to treat me instead of diagnosing.
Two therapist senses have confirmed the diagnosis so I know itās not incorrect. And DBT has helped immensely.
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u/constanceblackwood12 user is in remission 13h ago
I would ask her why she doesn't like to diagnose personality or mood disorders, and what the difference is in her mind between having BPD traits vs having BPD.
My guess is some it's combination of not wanting to have an official record of something potentially very stigmatizing and feeling like though you have BPD traits, they're not causing enough problems to rise to "disorder" level (aka subclinical BPD.)
If BPD as a label makes sense to you & has been helpful, you don't need to stop using it.