BPD Diagnosis confusions - bpd/bipolar confused with ptsd - common?

[PureDogs]

Hello,

I hope this is right place to put thread - Mod - if this is wrong place, you may move it and let me know. Thanks

Lately, I have been questioning myself about why I got these different diagnosis with my old psychiatrist and psychologist in the past. They diagnosis me as BPD, Bipolar, Depression, Bipolar I with episode, Bipolar NOS, Dynamical (sp?) depression.

Right now I am diagnosed of PTSD and Dynamic (sp?) depression. My therapist and psychiatrist stated that it is obviously that I had PTSD for long time and why did I get these misdiagnosed - It bothers me because I am wondering if these diagnosed that I recieved in the past was common confused with PTSD?

Even my closest friends tells me that I do not show any symptoms of Bipolar or/and BPD. My parents even said the same thing and my mom said that I do not have these but there are few symptoms that associates with bipolar but not sure. When I told my mom that I had PTSD, it appears that it makes sense to everything.

I plan to ask my psychiatrist and T about this issues.

I just asked my mom to sent me all old files that I left in the basement at my mom's place.

Is this normal to feel wanting to digging to get overcome with my PTSD, emotions, etc?

Can you help me out on this?

Many thanks!

 

[roaminggnome]

I already had a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder and PTSD when I was erroneously diagnosed with BPD at a partial hospitalization program. The BPD was diagnosed due to the them taking me off of benzos (Xanaz and clonazepam) cold turkey (very dangerous). Which seemed to enhance all of my PTSD symptoms. So in my opinion they were diagnosing me with BPD based on rapid drug withdrawal which triggered my PTSD. So even already having a diagnosis of PTSD the staff at the partial hospitalization program didn't see my PTSD. They were looking at more labels to put on me. At least this is why I was wrongly diagnosed. I guess some medical staff are just not familiar with the symptoms of PTSD in order to recognize it. I hope this helps a little.

 

[Kas_Can_Fly]

There are a lot of overlaps with both PTSD and Borderline, PTSD and Bipolar and Bipolar and Borderline, also these disorders are often comorbid which means you can have them both. I think the easiest way to understand it is to understand the individual disorders. Bipolar is known for having both deep depressive and manic phases. Borderline is characterised by having big mood swings, reckless/impulsive behaviours towards many things (like sex, spending, violence, drug use) feeling like a child and seeing things as black and white, good or bad with no in between. PTSD is characterised by flashbacks, heightened anxiety, avoidance, hypervigilance, depression dissociation and often self medicating, when a person gets triggered they experience a massive change in mental state and can go from being perfectly happy to distraught and crying or shaking in fear.

So all of these disorders are characterised by going from one extreme to another, often with depressive anxious states, they can all happen to someone who has suffered trauma. However a personality disorder would be present from around the age of fourteen or earlier because of this is when the personality has mostly fully developed and it is ingrained into the personality, it is therefore permanent and not treatable (although it is manageable and many personality disorders lessen with age). Because of the lack of treatment, doctors like to diagnose people with Borderline so they don't need to "fix" them and it seems to be the "in" thing to diagnose people with - A big warning though is that like schizophrenia this is a disorder that will be on record and not just medically, this will come up during background checks and so on.

Someone tried to diagnose me with Borderline because I was in the hospital with self-harm and for absolutely no other reason, when I explained I had PTSD, they still thought it was because of Borderline and ignored me, but I was very insistent and when I explained the reason I had PTSD was because of child sex abuse, she kind of dropped it. Now it turns out I do have a personality disorder, but not Borderline Personality, I found this out over a long period of time through my therapist who has been learning a lot about me and it was not a rushed diagnosis.

The problem is with differential and comorbid diagnosis' is that most disorders are diagnosed in one setting and you can't know that much about a person that quickly. When you were diagnosed with PTSD and depression, your psychiatrist/doctor should have removed some of the misdiagnosis. Either way definitely feel free to talk with your psychiatrist and T about this. Also, I think it's healthy to want to get to the bottom of this and have the correct diagnosis, so you can heal. I was misdiagnosed with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder before PTSD and it's made an enormous difference to getting the right treatment. Now I'm being diagnosed with Avoidant Personality Disorder and Depersonalisation Disorder as well but I'm happy about those diagnosis' as it means I'm closer to understanding myself and to getting better.

 

[Spiderallis]

@Kas_Can_Fly is quite right about the overlaps and similarities. I've decided to give half-credit to all the misdiagnoses I've had- they could spot a symptom or two, but I was still keeping the rest tucked in. Part of it was me not realizing that some of this stuff isn't exactly average or 'normal'. My mom has some symptoms of PTSD, and growing up with her I thought it was fairly ordinary to flinch at loud noises for example.

A correct diagnosis can help a lot. I've made a lot more progress since learning the right word for what I'm working on.

 

[TimeToHeal]

I was diagnosed with major depression and as Borderline for MANY years. It wasn't until about 5 years ago that I
I had therapists (ironically, at a partial hospitalization program) who finally put it all together and diagnosed me with complex PTSD. Personally, I found this diagnosis rather validating, as there was actually a reason I am this way and not just that I'm a bad and screwed up person.

I've asked my current therapist WHY it took so long for someone to figure it out. Her answer was that 20 years ago PTSD was viewed very differently. Apparently it was a diagnosis only given to soldiers, and only those who had been wounded in combat. So unfortunately for me (us) it was bad timing of sorts.

Now, that's not to say that I wasn't terribly depressed, and didn't exhibit many borderline characteristics, but I believe the underlying cause was trauma - PTSD.

Hope this helps a little.

 

[TimeToHeal]

You may also find parts of this article to be helpful.

[DLMURL]https://www.myptsd.com/c/articles/complex-posttraumatic-stress-disorder.5/[/DLMURL]

 

[PureDogs]

For those who left comments - Thank you.

These comments does help a little bit and made me feel a bit better that I'm not only one.

What did you do when you discovered that you were misdisagnosed? For me - I would be not happy about it because I felt that there was damages has been done. The labels made it worse when I shared with some people; I get bullied and pushed me down with these statement they made.

Like I said earlier that I would ask my T and Psychiatrist about this. Since I discovered that I have PTSD and I felt that everything comes in the picture to make clear sense to me what I have been went through. I have thoughts about confront my old T and Psych about this but I realize that it may not worth it at all.

I recall that PTSD was only provided to Combat but it has been changed over time to people who went through with different traumas. I do feel that I wish I knew about it long time ago so I could get proper treatment, medications, etc rather until now. That got me feeling - Wow, we have to be careful who we choose for therapy and make sure that the professional is actually listen completely than just taking patients for money.

I hope I'm making sense. Thank you for help me feel that I'm not only one here and let's see what others may left more comments here.

 

[Caterpillar]

I have both Bipolar and PTSD. They aggravate each other, but the symptoms for me are pretty distinct and I was diagnosed with both. Unfortunately I was also erroneously diagnosed with BPD, which I feel like any idiot could see I don't have and that the criteria I did meet were due to my Bipolar and PTSD. This seems to be a diagnosis psychologists like to throw at people for no good reason and I still need to get it removed from my medical records, or at least get a note added saying it's wrong so it can never complicate my treatment in the future. I'm not at all surprised that others with PTSD have been wrongly diagnosed with BPD at various times in their treatment.

 

[Kas_Can_Fly]

a diagnosis psychologists like to throw at people for no good reason

Yeah, I had some people throw that at me because of self-harm and an attempted suicide after saying for months that I needed extra care and support and people just kept shrugging it off and minimizing what I was going through. In the end I asked one person if self-harm was exclusive to Borderline or if it was also found in patients with PTSD/depression and victims of prolonged childhood sexual abuse. The woman shrugged it off at that point. It's very irritating that it's blanketed regardless of what the person is actually going through - it seems to be the new in thing to diagnose people with.

 

[joeylittle]

I do feel that I wish I knew about it long time ago so I could get proper treatment, medications, etc rather until now. That got me feeling - Wow, we have to be careful who we choose for therapy and make sure that the professional is actually listen completely than just taking patients for money.

I identify with how frustrating a diagnosis can be. Try and remember, as @Kas_Can_Fly captured nicely, that they are all really just identifying and treating symptoms. More information is always good - but diagnosis is only a word for a cluster of symptoms. Any mental health professional who sees one part of a cluster and just assumes you have the rest of the cluster isn't very thorough.

But you also can help by recognizing that "diagnosis" has as much to do with insurance codes as it does your mental health; and ultimately you and your doctors are treating symptoms.

I asked my doc once why I had Generalized Anxiety Disorder with my depression, and she said, one because you do; two because one of your anti-depressants is also approved for anxiety and your insurance plan does not allow for more than one of the same kind of education without an additional "diagnosis".

Besides: many diagnoses change - including PTSD, a conquerable thing. The goal is to shed symptoms, thereby making diagnosis change. Sometimes we pick up symptoms too.

Most dangerous is when you yourself start to be afraid of symptoms you don't have merely because they fall under a "diagnosis" that you seem to "qualify" for. And that's where trusting your docs matters!

 

[catjudo]

They diagnosis me as BPD, Bipolar, Depression, Bipolar I with episode, Bipolar NOS, Dynamical (sp?) depression.

Some of this just doesn't make sense. I truly do not believe that by definition you can be Bipolar I and Bipolar NOS at the same time. One or the other, but not both.

That being said, it is easy to misdiagnose PTSD as Bipolar or vice versa. It is possible to have both at the same time but, in my opinion, to diagnose both in the same person would need to be done by a doctor who knows the patient very well and truly understands their background and symptoms.

As for Borderline, I think it is often misdiagnosed. It is easy to slap that label on someone and it has lasting repercussions for the patient. I have had two separate instances in my life where someone tried to diagnose me as borderline. The first time was at an inpatient crisis center. Not long after that when I started seeing a new, regular psychiatrist he insisted there was no possible way. For months he would stop me mid-session and explain how something I had just said proved there was no way I was borderline. Over a decade later I'm still seeing the same psychiatrist and he is still confident in that assessment. About a year or so ago I was attempting to see a new psychologist. During a time of crisis he began to suggest that I was borderline. I tried explaining to him that was not the case and he was free to call my psychiatrist who knew me far better than him, but he did not do that. He continued to proceed with a treatment plan as though I were borderline...he had only known me for a very short time before the crisis period began. When that time passed and he was able to see the "typical" me he found himself admitting there was no way I was borderline and apologizing for treating me as though I were.

Like I said, borderline is an easy label for a lazy professional to slap on a person's file.

 

[Lady of Longbourn]

PTSD as Bipolar or vice versa. It is possible to have both at the same time but, in my opinion, to diagnose both in the same person would need to be done by a doctor who knows the patient very well and truly understands their background and symptoms.

Agreed. My psychologist knew me for years before he diagnosed me with Bipolar Disorder 2.