Empathy for BPD through my experiences with Complex PTSD
Hey all,
It's my first time posting in this particular forum, but I felt compelled to share a bit of my story today with y'all.
Having had (and been diagnosed) my battles with Complex PTSD, I've come to find out on a personal level what certain aspects of BPD can feel like.
When I was initially (and unknowingly, at the time) going through CPTSD, I was seeing myself through a very black-and-white lens. I was either all good or all bad. And on top of that, I would have moments of splitting and just what felt like uncontrollable surges of emotion (usually anger/frustration).
At any rate, I found out that the source of all this was my childhood trauma, and that CPTSD was/is the answer. But I also found out that BPD and CPTSD are differential diagnoses of each other for a reason; that there can be overlap and parallels of the symptoms.
So my very real empathy goes out to you all who deal with BPD in all of its aspects.
And I'm curious (from a CPTSD perspective), how do you all manage those moments of heightened/intense emotions?
@sereneSunset26
Hi, thanks for sharing this. 💜 That makes sense what you're describing with trauma causing all of those different experiences (e.g. strong surges of anger, sometimes liking yourself a lot and other times not being able to find anything good). And can definitely understand how there would be this feeling of, "Oh, I've had that... I really feel for you. 😟"
This is a page I like a lot that has some ideas for things to do for different types of feelings.
https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/borderline-personality-disorder-bpd/self-care-for-bpd/
@QuietMagic
Thank you so much for your reply and that link--I will look into it for sure!
I feel like one of the silver linings (if I can call it that) with mental health struggles, is that when there are parallels, it presents an opportunity for us to both empathize with and help each other out. :)
@sereneSunset26
Yeah, it's pretty amazing how each new set of negative/difficult experiences sort of adds another layer to one's ability to understand other people who might be having similar issues. 😊
@QuietMagic
Exactly!! I'm so glad you get it. :)