Mental health not just confined to anxiety and depression

http://www.irishtimes.com/student-hub/mental-health-not-just-confined-to-anxiety-and-depression-1.2592334

Did You Know…#2

that more people suffer from Borderline Personality Disorder than Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder combined?

Study Probes Distinctions Between Bipolar, Borderline Personality Disorder | Psych Central News

Study Probes Distinctions Between Bipolar, Borderline Personality Disorder | Psych Central News.

PLEASE SHARE AND HELP FIGHT STIGMA! PLEASE PAY IT FORWARD!

Lonely Lotus shares his personal struggle with BPD, MDD and GAD.  Very inspirational!  Please read and share!  Show him your support for bravely sharing his story with us.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=164964273690348&set=a.150800021773440.1073741828.150771748442934&type=1

BPD and Bipolar Disorder

I’ve seen a lot of people asking on Facebook what the differences are between Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar Disorder.  Although they seem very similar, they are totally different disorders.  It is possible to have both disorders, making a correct diagnosis even more difficult.  Here are some helpful links:

 

http://www.my-borderline-personality-disorder.com/2013/05/BPD-Bipolar-Symptoms-Confused-Difference.html

http://blogs.psychcentral.com/bipolar/2010/08/borderline-personality-bipolar-disorder-differences-diagnosis/

http://blogs.psychcentral.com/bipolar/2010/09/borderline-personality-and-bipolar-differences-part-ii-treatment/

http://borderlinepersonalitytreatment.com/signs-of-bipolar-disorder-and-borderline-personality-disorder.html

http://www.differencebetween.info/difference-between-borderline-and-bipolar

 

Borderline Personality Disorder and Major Depression a Double Whammy | Borderline Treatment Centers

Borderline Personality Disorder and Major Depression a Double Whammy | Borderline Treatment Centers.

Screening Scale May Misidentify Borderline Personality Disorder as Bipolar Disorder – NewRelevant

Screening Scale May Misidentify Borderline Personality Disorder as Bipolar Disorder – NewRelevant.

Borderline Personality Disorder

http://inshapenewsflash.com/mind-matters/borderline-personality-disorder/

“I HAVE BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER AND I’M PROUD OF IT!”

Many people with BPD and accompanying mental illnesses write their posts about their co-morbid illnesses, but not their BPD, because of the stigma.  People with say that they have physical illnesses rather than BPD.  Even with their therapists, they’re stigmatized because of their BPD.  Students studying Psychology are too ashamed to admit that they have BPD because of stigma – by people in the profession of mental health, no less!  Therapists, professors, doctors and nurses crack jokes  about BPD sufferers as “just another Borderline”  How do we stop this?  By coming forward with our Borderline Personality Disorder and not being ashamed of it.  By shouting it from the rooftops “I HAVE BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER AND I’M PROUD OF IT!”  We are good people.  We have more empathy than most people.  We are creative, passionate, loving.  What we have to endure every day of our lives – the intense emotions that others will never feel, give us a strength that they can only dream of.

Are you ready to tell the world about your BPD?  Wear your BPD with pride!  I love all of you out there who have struggled along with me.

My Rant on Stigma

Make BPD Stigma-Free!

Do people never take you seriously about anything?  I tell people about ideas I have but nothing ever happens.  They never say “Let’s work on that right now!”  They’re like “Oh, yeah.”  I have some things I would love to do, but I don’t feel strong enough at the moment, because of my life circumstances.  If things would improve for a bit, I’d probably be able to.  I want to so badly!  I don’t know if it would even make a difference or anything, but it can’t hurt, I guess.

I want to raise awareness, and erase the stigma of Borderline Personality Disorder.  I’d like people to be able to get help sooner, without have to wait for months, years or even decades before getting properly diagnosed.  I’d like teens to get the help they need instead of having to wait until they’re eighteen.  I’d like people to not get misdiagnosed and slip through the cracks of the mental health system.

I’m so frustrated!  I wasn’t properly diagnosed for about two decades!  No one should have to go through that!  There are advancements in neuroscience showing differences in the brains of Borderlines.  They should be able to detect it better.  But people aren’t getting the help they need.  Why?  The main reason is STIGMA!  If it wasn’t for the stigma of mental illness, more people wouldn’t be afraid to get help.

Borderline Personality Disorder is the most stigmatized mental illness.  Therapists are advised not to treat them because they are:  untreatable, manipulative, etc.  They are seen as having no empathy.

BPD affects more people than Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder combined.  Yet we never hear about it.

People with BPD have the most empathy of anyone.  Sometimes it doesn’t show itself because we have to numb ourselves to it because it becomes so overwhelming we cannot deal with it.  Many times we’re not even aware of it ourselves.  This is mistakenly taken as lack of empathy.

There are many articles and blog posts about how people have been hurt by Borderlines.  Maybe if there wasn’t so much stigma from articles and posts like these, people wouldn’t be afraid to get help and would get better sooner.  Just think what it’s like for the Borderline themselves!  You’re only seeing it from the outside.  They have to live with their intense emotions and thoughts, all day, every day of their lives!  They never get to take a break from it, ever.  They can learn Dialectical Behaviour Therapy skills to manage their thoughts and emotions, but they’re still there.  We have to learn how to try to function and appear as “normal” people the best we can.  If only you could walk in our shoes for one day, you’d see how strong we really are.