Q. I have been diagnosed differently many times. The 2 major ones have always been BPD and PTSD. I have recently moved to another state and started therapy again. Now I am diagnosed with BPD and Bi-Polar disorder. I asked about if I still had PTSD and I was told that PTSD only lasts 6 months, if the symptoms continue after that it is no longer PTSD but Bi-Polar psychosis. Do you feel this is true?
A. No. Virtually everything I’ve read and seen shows the PTSD doesn’t go away, but can wax and wane. It can become dramatically less with medication and counseling, particularly cognitive retraining.
Q. My old therapist who I had for 5 yrs. does not agree. My background is childhood physical, sexual and emotional abuse. I was also adopted at the age of 5 months.
A. Very high likelihood of the BPD, but obviously I cannot make that diagnosis. The key feature separating the impulsivity and self-destructiveness of the BPD vs bipolar is that bipolars start to feel good, then great, then invincible – participating in their self-destructive activities because they believe nothing bad can happen to them (or an equivalent idea). Borderlines participate in self-destructive behaviors because they feel terrible and the self destructive behaviors relieve the pain.