Suggestions
For many years I have suspected that I MIGHT have quiet BPD. Ive read a lot about it online/have done a lot of research and I feel like I see many of the traits within myself. I mentioned it to my friend and she says she doesnt think I have it but the thing is I rarely ever show my true emotions I hold everything, my thoughts and feeling in. When I do show them its mostly in outburst of anger or aggression or over the top reactions ex calling my bf 75 times when he didnt answer his phone. My systoms has been better for a while but now I feel like they are troubling me. I currently go to therapy and am working thru dealing with anxiety but I feel like it could be something more. What is a good way to mention this to my therapist without coming across like I am self diagnosing? Any advice would be helpful.
@PNT1441 The list of nine traits for BPD has been out of date since 2013. I think one of the reasons they scrapped the traits was that they were too easy for people to misinterpret. Many websites have never been updated, so you often find out of date information about BPD on the Internet and elsewhere.
If your therapist is experienced, I think BPD or any other personality disorder would normally have been noticed in your first session.
But if you have important symptoms that your therapist doesn't know about, then I think it would be useful to mention the individual symptoms and give examples of how they affect you. I suppose your therapist might prefer to continue treating your anxiety first, but you could have a discussion about what your priorities are.
Of course, if therapy isn't working then it does seem to make sense to wonder whether treatment for anxiety is appropriate. Therapists have told me that CBT treatment for anxiety often starts to work after two or three sessions, and therapy is often complete after six to twelve sessions.
If you'd like to chat to me about your situation, feel free to click on my profile picture and message me.
Charlie
After years of seeing a therapist and BPD never coming up, one day I said "I don't think depression is the only thing that's wrong with me" and she was like what do you mean? And I said I felt like it might be something more, and that's when the therapist brought up BPD. She had suspected it but didn't want to diagnose it because of the stigma associated with it, but once we talked about it we agreed that BPD was probably accurate.
(Now years later my current therapist isn't sure I meet the criteria for BPD anymore).
