I think I could have borderline personality disorder

I understand where you're coming from. I've had a lot of issues and not sure where I lie amidst all the personality disorders. You can answer this in your mind, but I'm curious. Parents affect us a lot, and knowing that my parents are narcissistic personality disorder (most likely), I have picked up a lot of traits from them, but I also fit a lot more neatly into BPD. I also used to think that I had schizophrenia and multiple personality disorder, so I know the overlap can be confusing!maybe you can think on how your parents are/how they behaved towards you?

But I think what you're describing here sounds a lot like BPD, because of the brain switch and "acting out" as some would call it.

@exuberantLunch1808

Hi, welcome to 7 Cups! 💜

That sounds pretty isolating and scary all of what you're describing (really strong feelings, feeling yourself turning into a different person, depersonalization and derealization, fear of people abandoning you). And a lot of that does sound similar to BPD.

In terms of your last question (can teens be diagnosed with BPD), the answer is yes but it depends on the therapist. One line of thinking is that teens' brains are still developing and a lot of normal teen experiences can look like BPD, so therapists will sometimes be really cautious/conservative about diagnosing BPD in teens. The other side is that sometimes BPD is just a good fit for what's happening, and identifying it sooner helps match teens with the right kind of help for what they're experiencing.

Either way, if you're interested in getting help, seeking help sounds great and a therapist should be able to help, regardless of whether they decide to call it BPD or something else. They'd also potentially be able to navigate how this intersects with autism spectrum disorder since that has its own set of difficulties and unique experiences.

(I agree with you that it's pretty confusing that bipolar and borderline personality disorder have similar letters.)

Hi there! I just joined this app for the first time and this was the first post I saw, so my first comment ever will be on your post!

I’ve been diagnosed with BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder) for about 9 years now and I can say, this illness is very veryyyy hard and complex. It has a lot of symptoms, sometimes they can be BPD and sometimes not. It can be misdiagnosed a lot of times with other illnesses too, such as Bipolar. It took about 2 years of a psychiatrist observing how I reacted to things, what i felt and how intense i felt, the severity of my symptoms and a loooot more. It does sound like you have some symptoms of it, but you can’t be sure at all that you have it just relating to it. You definitely need to look for a good psychiatrist to diagnose you, and sometimes (and it’s exhausting), you will have to see multiple different psychiatrists to get a proper diagnosis!

Oh and, I did started to show my first symptoms of BPD when I was a teenager, so It’s the perfect time to look for someone who can help you with your feelings.

I hope you can get the answer you’re looking for soon!