bpd

[spectre]

I have suffered severe depression for most of my life. I have also struggled with intense anger, which often links to my self-harm. My anger is beginning to cause problems in my marriage, so I have started looking into causes or reasons for why I am the way I am. From the research I have done, I believe there is a chance I may have borderline personality disorder, of which my depression is a part. I fulfil most of the required categories of bpd, but I know the dangers of self-diagnosis (and am certainly in no hurry to have my suspicion confirmed).

I am aware of the large amount of stigma surrounding bpd, particularly among healthcare professionals, and how unpopular it is as a diagnosis. This coupled with more bad experiences with mental health HCPs than I care to remember, means I am very wary of going to the gp and starting down the road of getting a diagnosis. I think it's really sad how many gps are unhelpful and prejudiced when it comes to mental health, especially considering how many people suffer it. I tend to flip between thinking that if I have a problem, I'd rather know about it, and then thinking that if it is bpd, I would rather not know!

I know most of the advice tends to be along the "go to your gp..." lines, but is there anything that I can do, that doesn't involve trying to convince my gp of my problems and persuading them to refer me on? Even if I did get a diagnosis of bpd or whatever, I'm not convinced there's much that can be done to help, so is a diagnsosis even worth the effort?

[Dr Gary Jackson]

Hi. A diagnosis is most helpful as a guide to possible treatments. As you have identified your problem symptoms perhaps focus on finding help for those specifically. You may want to read up on Dialectic Behaviour Therapy. Drug treatments of course need to be accessed through a psychiatrist.
Dr Jackson