Posted by Elizabeth on October 26, 2001, at 11:22:02
In reply to Re: Borderline Personality Disorder Meds » Elizabeth, posted by sar on October 25, 2001, at 13:51:08
> right, give me enough time w/ the DSM and it's dangerous... :)
Did you see the movie they made of Girl, Interrupted? There's a scene where Winona Ryder reads the diagnostic criteria for BPD (which actually were only first spelled out in 1980, in DSM-III) and says something to the effect of, "That is *so* me." To which Angelina Jolie replies, "That's everybody." < g >
> i agree. reading about problems that people with BPD frequently have helped open my eyes to some faults that i have but i really wasn't fully aware of...
That's understandable. I think that a lot of people could learn some things about themselves by reading about psychological disorders -- including "normies." :-)
> at the time of the dx, i *wanted* a label so i could go get books and understand why i felt and acted so crazy.
That's understandable, too. But getting yourself labelled "borderline" usually isn't in your best interests, IMO (although you had no way of knowing that at the time).
> > Ahh, then your doctor would definitely not be affiliated with Harvard (in eastern Massachusetts)!
>
> oh no...he'd just gone to school there...this shows how easily impressed i am! :)Heh. Until recently I lived in Cambridge, Mass. Boston (and the surrounding area) is swarming with psychiatrists, nearly all of them HMS alums and/or HMS-affiliated.
> well, the borderline label hurt because it rung true with me. the dx of histrionic personality disorder made me laugh because i'm a social phobic and can't *stand* to be the center of attention, i'm pretty quiet, etc...this doctor had met me only once and slapped this dx into my file!
See, I think that patients should have some protection as to what goes into their medical records. A lot of doctors are quick to make stigmatizing diagnoses. (IMO, a lot of the "personality disorder" labels are best considered name-calling rather than legitimate diagnoses.)
> Whether or not I've got BPII is up in the air--but i've done my reading and gotten my drugs...i'm all labelled out. i just want to feel better (and i have been).
Good! That's the point of all this -- to help us feel okay and get our lives back together, not to satisfy some doctor's ego. ;-)
> i agree. the labels helped me w/ research because i've not been able to afford a decent therapist in many months (no insurance).
My insurance recently lapsed, and I've been worried ever since. I actually had one of these seizure-like episodes recently and was really worried, but it turned out that I could get financial assistance to pay the hospital bills. (I haven't any firm evidence that the episodes are in fact seizures, but all the doctors I've spoken to say that's what it sounds like.)
> i think it also depends on whether or not one considers the label "perjorative."
If clinicians tend to become prejudiced against you based on no relevant information other than the diagnosis, I'd say it's "pejorative." "Stigmatizing" is probably a better word.
> the male psychiatrist told me that borderlines and histrionics are very charming and attractive.
Oh jeez. (Actually, I wouldn't say that of BPD necessarily, but it's practically part of the definition of HPD. It's considered "manipulative," though, so I wouldn't take it as a compliment.)
> what a nut, no wonder i'm not seeing him anymore...(that's the one who went to Harvard).
Harvard graduates nuts too. (You should see the undergrads.)
-elizabeth
poster:Elizabeth
thread:81137
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011025/msgs/82340.html