Cptsd emotional deregulation vs bipolar type 2 vs bpd?

[InsertCoinsHere]

Hello all,

I'm seeking information on the difference between CPTSD emotional deregulation vs Bipolar type 2 vs BPD.

Are there any stand out characteristics which define each?

I'm not so concerned with adding a label to myself but it is helpful to know which diagnosis is most accurate for therapy and medication purposes.

I have been diagnosed with complex trauma and my mood fluctuates a lot, I'm almost constantly in a low mood and have been for over a decade. I do have acting out tendencies (these aren't expressed in public) and these are always triggered often I don't realise till I begin to calm down. I experience more emotional stress in a relationship and it often feels overwhelming. Every 2 weeks or so I get a few days of almost grandiose creativity.. These appear after a very low couple of days generally due to stress or a trigger these feelings are like I have found 'the cure' to my sufferring. I end up writing loads and I sleep less with a constant wanting to do something (usually read). This is unusual for me as generally I am exhausted.

I have been tracking my moods for a while and see fluctuations every 2 weeks or so sometimes less.

Does anyone know of unique differences between these diagnosis in order to investigate further. Thank you.

 

[Sideways]

I'll leave distinguishing between cptsd and bpd to someone else, because my understanding is that cptsd largely covers a lot of what bpd is anyway.

Bipolar (and particularly bipolar II), you're going to be looking for a period of hypermania that's gone on for at least 2 weeks without a breather.

Much like there's depression, and then there's Depression, there's a difference between having an elevated mood for a while amd being hypermanic. Hypermania falls short of experiencing psychosis, but not by much. You're going to see really unsustainable levels of energy on very little sleep, reckless behaviours, and racing (and grandiose) thoughts that cause dysfunction in your life.

So, I got lumped with the Bipolar II thing because I experienced periods of weeks and weeks where spending became disastrous, sex became unsafe, and I started doing things like replacing my entire wardrobe, refurnishing my entire apartment, applying for (massively career-changing and completely nonsensical) new jobs...stuff like that. On about 2 hours sleep per night. With fairly mind-boggling levels of exercise thrown in for good measure. And all without any food. Not great.

So, with ptsd (or cptsd), it's not going to be abnormal for you to experience mood instability. This will start to become hypermania if it's sustained (min 2 weeks) and it's causing real problems in your life.

That's not to say that mood instability is something to be ignored. Fluctuations in mood are important to track, because you will have patterns that are unique to you. For me? A short period of elevated mood is something I know to intervene with, because a short high is a sure sign that I'm about to take a serious nosedive. You need to know how your mood behaves so you can mange it.

Moderate highs or lows are better described as euthymia and dysthymia (spellcheck). They've given them a name because even though it's not necessarily causing major major issues, it can still make life pretty difficult. You may find the descriptions for those states helpful.

I previously was diagnosed with BPD traits, which got dumped when I was diagnosed with cptsd, because the BPD parts became better described and understood as features of my cptsd, rather than 'something else as well'.

More relevantly, my Bipolar II diagnosis has had a question mark over it since I got diagnosed with DID, and we discovered that one of my alters is fundamentally hypermanic, which may explain my previous periods of hypermania. So, if you have complex trauma from your developmental years? That may be an alternative to consider with your T.

With what you've described? Emotional dysregulation is, in my understanding at least, looking at the way your emotional state is causing disruptive or problematic behaviours. Grandiose thoughts, to me, would be more of a reflection of your mood becoming elevated.

Just to make that more confusing? Mood can also be mixed, as in having a 'mixed mood state'. That's where the markers we use for low mood, and high mood, are all present at the same time. Why bring that up now? Because you may have had racing, grandiose thoughts (markers of an elevated mood) while you were tired, run down and glum (markers of low mood). Mixed mood - confusing!

Distinguishing between emotions causing dysfunctional behaviour (emotional dysregulation) and thoughts causing dysfunctional mood, is no easy task, because as well as influencing our behaviour, emotions can also influence our thoughts. Racing thoughts could signal an elevated mood...or they could indicate panicked emotions. Bleh! Pulling all that apart is why we pay the professionals!!

Hope some of that is helpful:)

 

[InsertCoinsHere]

I'll leave distinguishing between cptsd and bpd to someone else, because my understanding is tha...

Very informative thank you. Yes it is all very complex! I'm beginning to learn DBT (self learning atm) as I feel this is a skill that can benefit anyone and help emotional regulation.

I personally suspect I may be on the 'quiet borderline' spectrum... rejection, abandonment, negative judgements are large triggers for myself. Along with CPTSD.

Could you expand further on DID? Sometimes I'm filled with thoughts of rage, pain and intense emotions and then the next day I can be completely peaceful and calm with profound awareness and personal insight.

Thank you.

 

[Sideways]

Could you expand further on DID?

It's not unusual for people to relate to the concept of having multiple personalities. People often have their 'work' perosna, and their 'home with the SO' persona, and their 'talking to the in-laws' persona. In each of these different settings, you might have different moods, thoughts, priorities, values, language, dress-sense...the list goes on.

The thing that best distinguishes DID, is that there is no smooth transition from one personality state to the next and, crucially, that each personality only remembers what that personality has experienced.

So, for example, Work Me will only remember things that happen at work. While I'm in that personality state, I wouldn't have any awareness of the existence of other personality states, or have any memory of things that have happened outside work.