Relationship Clues Led to Being Rediagnosed with BPD
Trigger warning: This post involves a frank discussion of suicidal thoughts and self-harm urges.
I was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD) in my 20s after a pill overdose and a pseudopsychotic episode. After receiving outpatient care for a year, I was told that I no longer met the criteria for BPD. In the years since, I've been living my life with the understanding that I have depression, anxiety, and complex posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This changed in 2022.
My Journey to a BPD Rediagnosis
After an overnight stay in the psychiatric ward, a psychiatrist assessed and rediagnosed me as having BPD. While I struggled to accept this at first, I recognized that having BPD explained the more severe symptoms I'd been having in the past couple of years, especially with regard to my relationships. I'd been behaving in a more passive-aggressive and paranoid way, especially with the friend whose home I stayed in for the first half of 2022. I'd also experienced intense suicidal thoughts and self-harm urges -- the calling card of my experience with BPD in my younger days.
Now, I've chosen to accept that I have BPD and share my story with others.
If you feel that you may hurt yourself or someone else, call 9-1-1 immediately.
For more information on suicide, see our suicide information, resources, and support section. For additional mental health help, please see our mental health hotline numbers and referral resources section.
APA Reference
Bender, M.
(2022, September 5). Relationship Clues Led to Being Rediagnosed with BPD, HealthyPlace. Retrieved
on 2024, December 8 from https://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/relationshipsandmentalillness/2022/9/relationship-clues-led-to-being-rediagnosed-with-bpd