I am looking for a medical opinion on the best treatment.
Also prevention of developing BPD from a genetic perdisposition to the disorder.
I don’t understand. You can’t just develop BPD. It’s mainly prevalent in childhood, so if you don’t have it already, you aren’t going to.
SHIT.
well,
My mum has it. And they thought she just had depression, she didn’t, she had BPD.
I “have” depression… well that’s a 6 year old diagnosis when they thought mum had depression. But she didn’t either.
Sorry, I just realized that you probably were referring to one of your children, or inferring that one of your parents was afflicted. I don’t know much about prevention (but try here: http://www.mhsanctuary.com/borderline/ ), but the expected rate of passing down the gene is only like 5%.
As far as medical treatment, at least as far as my experience, only symptoms are treated. My ex-girlfriend had been given drugs for everything from bipolar syndrome to schizophrenia, even after being diagnosed BPD. Thing is, no matter how effective the drugs are, it’s damn hard to convince someone with BPD that they should take the pills.
If you’re really worried about it, see a psychiatrist. If you live in a decently large area, there’s likely to be someone who specializes in BPD, and that link I gave above lists Doctors who treat the syndrome.
I know this wasn’t exactly what you asked for but hopefully it helped.
thanks. 
Hey, bad post timing. I would get a second opinion on your mother’s condition. BPD typically consists of self-mutilation, extremely wild mood swings, and more. It’s not something that any doctor is likely to confuse with depression. A lot of people nowadays associate it with syndromes like Bipolar and the like, but BPD is much, much more extreme and severe.
Also, most people lose the symptoms of BPD around the age of 30, so assuming your mother is over that age, it isn’t likely that BPD is the problem.
well she used to exhibit depressive symptons, but then eventually just kinda flipped… I don’t know, it’s kinda strange… but umm, she pretty much exhibits most of the symptoms of BPD now… but she drinks a lot, so they’re kinda subdued.
Yeah, see another doctor. BPD most often gets better with age, not worse. I’d help point you towards what else it could be but BPD is really the limit of my experience with mental disorders.
Sorry to keep bumping this, but I was looking for this link earlier and just now found it.
http://www.palace.net/~llama/psych/bpd.html
That’s the best description of the disorder and its symptoms I’ve seen.
There is another excellent website on this topic. The link is
www.bpdcentral.com Also, it is not necessarily true that BPD manifests itself only at childhood. There are many factors: some biochemical, some environmental. And, it is too often confused with Bi-polar disorder…both BPD initials!
Also, you should be aware that someone with BPD can be high-functioning or low-functioning. The low-functioning type is a more “classic” form more commonly recognized in texts. While the low-functioning type could be a danger to one’s self (or others), the high-functioning is usually just a very, very difficult type of personality to have any form of relationship with.
But, at BDP Central, they address all issues - including how to deal with a family member who may be BPD. They also have a few e-groups (directed to various special interest groups) you may wish to join.
I hope this helps…
- Jinx
One problem with psychiatric diagnosis is that it is mostly subjective. You can visit three doctors and get three different diagnosis for the same symptoms. And believe it or not, there are diagnostic “trends”. Years ago, anyone who went to a psychiatrist was probably going to walk out with a diagnosis for depression and a prescription for valium (although logic completely evades me why you would give a downer to someone who was already down). Anyway, the depressive diagnosis might have been bogus.
As for BPD, this isn’t usually something that just appears out of nowhere when someone “flips”. By flips I am guessing she developed some delusional behavior. Not knowing her symptoms I couldn’t begin to guess but but generally wityh mental disorders some symptoms are there for a long time often years before they become severe enough for someone to notice. BPD is usually either A) present at a younger age (as discussed) or B) often a progressive symptom of another untreated illness or C) not often butsometimes a result of a traumatic incident and is related to post taumatic stress syndrome.
I would definitely get another opinion and really be observant of things like mood swings, paranoid behaviors, compulsive behaviors, specific delusional thought, agressive behaviors, etc.
Don’t worry too much that you will “get it”
Yep (what mipiace just said).
I have received that diagnosis.
Also manic-depressive psychosis (now known as bipolar disorder), schizo-dependent schizotypal personality disorder, and paranoid schizophrenic.
Collect them all! Trade with your friends!
One annoying trend within the entire medical community (not just the psychiatric system; for that matter, not just the professionals–the patients and the general public are major participants) is the tendency to behave as if putting a label on a set of undesirable symptoms means that you have figured out what causes them.
In fact, I think I’m gonna go start a pit thread about that.
You know I agree. Worry less about the label and more about what is going to help her.