Post by Mea on Dec 16, 2015 9:06:31 GMT
Anonymous asked: I feel bad. I have bpd but lately I've been looking into other personality disorders. But on top of this I already have so many illnesses/ disorders. How many am I allowed to have? When do I know to stop looking? I think part of why I look for so many things to dis rube me is because of my identity issues and I need labels for things that fit with it, but am I going over the top or is it really possible for me to have a total of 11 disorders/illnesses? I can't even get profession help it sucks
Answer: There’s no limit on how many disorders someone can be diagnosed with. Disorders are often comorbid, and it’s common for people with personality disorders to have more than one (about half of us have more than one, and a substantial percentage of us have more than four!). My list of diagnoses is long, and would be longer if I included everything I’ve been diagnosed with in the past. Currently, I have BPD, STPD, PTSD, Bipolar I, GAD, dermatillomania, and an addiction. That’s seven, and I’ve previously been diagnosed with OCD, MDD, and schizoaffective disorder. That makes 10. I don’t agree with the last three, so I don’t count them. These are all ones that have been professionally diagnosed in some way or another.
However, it might be helpful to understand that there is often a lot of overlap between disorders, especially when it comes to BPD. BPD has been described as a “burrito of doom” because it’s related and to so many different disorders. Here is a chart from our FAQ that shows how BPD relates to a wide range of other disorders that can all be comorbid with BPD.
It’s entirely possible to have 11 disorders, but it’s also possible that your BPD is actually the source of your symptoms that might seem like another disorder. For example, I have previously been diagnosed with OCD, but I think my OCD traits are actually rooted in my BPD and so I don’t really have OCD because those symptoms are really being caused by a different disorder. Likewise with my schizoaffective diagnosis, I think it makes more sense to say that my psychosis is caused by my BPD when I’m under stress (and maybe some elements of my STPD which is part of the schizophrenic spectrum) and that my affective (mood) problems are because of my Bipolar I. I don’t think it makes sense to say I have BPD with psychotic features, Bipolar I, AND schizoaffective even though I meet the diagnostic criteria for all three of them. The overlap is just too much.
So in short, it’s entirely possible to have 11 diagnoses, but it’s also possible that there’s substantial overlap between the disorders you’ve diagnosed yourself with and your symptoms can actually be attributed to a more “core” disorder. This is where professionals are helpful because they can help you recognize when symptoms are being caused by a core disorder, such as BPD in my case, and when an additional diagnosis is warranted. It’s very hard to sort this out yourself, and is one of the big problems with self-diagnosis, because you just don’t have the knowledge base a professional does to know if you really have all these disorders or if a few of your disorders are causing symptoms that look like yet another different disorder.
I can’t really tell you if you’re “going over the top” with your self-diagnosis because of your unstable identity and desire for labels to describe your experiences, or if you actually have all 11 of the disorders you think you fit the criteria for. I can’t diagnose you or confirm your diagnosis. All I can really say is that both options are possible. People with BPD often hunt for labels because we feel it helps us solidify our identity and explain our experiences, so we can become very attached to labels. As well, self-diagnosis when you have comorbid disorders, especially a significant number of them, is very difficult. Some disorders by definition can’t be diagnosed with other disorders because they’re either too similar or the diagnosis itself is a combination of two disorders already. On the other hand, it’s not unheard of for people to have 10 or 11 diagnoses, so it’s possible you really do have all the disorders you think you have.
I would just suggest breaking down your symptoms of each disorder you have diagnosed yourself with and look to see if there are any patterns in the symptoms you’re displaying and see if you can attribute those symptoms to any of the other disorders on your list (BPD being a major one for this). That might help you narrow your list down if you have too much overlap.
-Pandora
Answer: There’s no limit on how many disorders someone can be diagnosed with. Disorders are often comorbid, and it’s common for people with personality disorders to have more than one (about half of us have more than one, and a substantial percentage of us have more than four!). My list of diagnoses is long, and would be longer if I included everything I’ve been diagnosed with in the past. Currently, I have BPD, STPD, PTSD, Bipolar I, GAD, dermatillomania, and an addiction. That’s seven, and I’ve previously been diagnosed with OCD, MDD, and schizoaffective disorder. That makes 10. I don’t agree with the last three, so I don’t count them. These are all ones that have been professionally diagnosed in some way or another.
However, it might be helpful to understand that there is often a lot of overlap between disorders, especially when it comes to BPD. BPD has been described as a “burrito of doom” because it’s related and to so many different disorders. Here is a chart from our FAQ that shows how BPD relates to a wide range of other disorders that can all be comorbid with BPD.
It’s entirely possible to have 11 disorders, but it’s also possible that your BPD is actually the source of your symptoms that might seem like another disorder. For example, I have previously been diagnosed with OCD, but I think my OCD traits are actually rooted in my BPD and so I don’t really have OCD because those symptoms are really being caused by a different disorder. Likewise with my schizoaffective diagnosis, I think it makes more sense to say that my psychosis is caused by my BPD when I’m under stress (and maybe some elements of my STPD which is part of the schizophrenic spectrum) and that my affective (mood) problems are because of my Bipolar I. I don’t think it makes sense to say I have BPD with psychotic features, Bipolar I, AND schizoaffective even though I meet the diagnostic criteria for all three of them. The overlap is just too much.
So in short, it’s entirely possible to have 11 diagnoses, but it’s also possible that there’s substantial overlap between the disorders you’ve diagnosed yourself with and your symptoms can actually be attributed to a more “core” disorder. This is where professionals are helpful because they can help you recognize when symptoms are being caused by a core disorder, such as BPD in my case, and when an additional diagnosis is warranted. It’s very hard to sort this out yourself, and is one of the big problems with self-diagnosis, because you just don’t have the knowledge base a professional does to know if you really have all these disorders or if a few of your disorders are causing symptoms that look like yet another different disorder.
I can’t really tell you if you’re “going over the top” with your self-diagnosis because of your unstable identity and desire for labels to describe your experiences, or if you actually have all 11 of the disorders you think you fit the criteria for. I can’t diagnose you or confirm your diagnosis. All I can really say is that both options are possible. People with BPD often hunt for labels because we feel it helps us solidify our identity and explain our experiences, so we can become very attached to labels. As well, self-diagnosis when you have comorbid disorders, especially a significant number of them, is very difficult. Some disorders by definition can’t be diagnosed with other disorders because they’re either too similar or the diagnosis itself is a combination of two disorders already. On the other hand, it’s not unheard of for people to have 10 or 11 diagnoses, so it’s possible you really do have all the disorders you think you have.
I would just suggest breaking down your symptoms of each disorder you have diagnosed yourself with and look to see if there are any patterns in the symptoms you’re displaying and see if you can attribute those symptoms to any of the other disorders on your list (BPD being a major one for this). That might help you narrow your list down if you have too much overlap.
-Pandora
