BPDRecovery.com: Forums

Hi I'm Kathy and I have BPD....I was miss-diagnosed with Bipolar disorder for years. I struggle with interpersonal relationships and handling strong emotions. I'm hoping to find some support here that will help me to be more functional in a crisis.

Hi katbor and welcome.

The confusion between bipolar and BPD is all too common, I guess because of the mood swings -- though in most true bipolar they don't occur as frequently as in BPD -- but there is so much more to both disorders. I also think some docs might put down bipolar as a diagnosis in a (misguided) effort to be helpful, as it is harder to get treatment and insurance coverage for BPD than bipolar.

Anyhoo, now that you've been correctly assessed, you can work on getting better. It might seem that bipolar is easier to fix, since it's primarily a function of good drug management, but it is possible to recover from BPD, and if you can successfully change your dysfunctional patterns of thinking and behavior and come to terms with whatever factors led you to develop them to begin with, you'll have a lasting and more stable future than the average person with bipolar, at least in my opinion.

So check out our tools in the box on the left, read through some of the different forums to get a sense of what other people have on their minds, and if you have any questions or comments, jump right in.

Kathy, I hear ya. I had that one (Bi-Polar) hung on me for a while as well. It's good to finally have a diagnosis that makes sense, eh? More importantly, I think it's fantastic that it's a diagnosis that CAN have a good, positive, healthy result: recovery!

Welcome to BPDR - we're really glad you're here.