Borderline in conjunction with Bipolar Diagnoses

Studies have found BPD pathology in 50% of patients with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and many patients who have Bipolar Disorder.  Borderline personality disorder (BPD) and bipolar disorder (BP) are frequently confused with each other, in part because of their considerable symptomatic overlap.  When diagnosed with BPD, patients with bipolar disorder may be deprived of potentially effective medicine.  Conversely, some clinicians will not even disclose the BPD diagnosis to patients, or they may diagnose someone with BPD as bipolar.  This leads to the BPD patient being unnecessarily medicated instead of getting the psychosocial treatment they need. 

In my case, I was diagnosed with PTSD in 2005 and put on anti-depressants and anti-anxiety meds.  It wasn’t until five years ago that I was diagnosed with BPD and started psychotherapy for that disorder.  Three years ago I was diagnosed with Bipolar and put on mood-stabilizing medication. Last year I was diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder and have come to the realization that my different alter identities have separate conditions, which is why it has taken so long to find the right diagnoses for me.  Symptoms of these disorders have been present in me since childhood, but because they are attached to my alters they are not always present, making a diagnosis difficult to pinpoint.