please pardon the screen name. I am on a chronic medical illness board, but just happen to come across this one and thought I'd ask a question. I was wondering about anyone recovering from BPD. My friend was diagnosed with borderline about 7 years ago (although I myself would have never known she was borderline since she was never ever volatile or anything with friends and she has many friends, interests, etc). She did DBT therapy and is off psych meds due to horrible side affects her body couldn't handle. Anyway, she recently went back into therapy after a 2 year haitus since she is dealing with an illness in her family. Her new therapist said that she might have borderline "traits" (whatever that means) but that she does not have full blown BPD. Her therapist said she obviously recovered because she treats alot of borderlines and her behavior is much different from theirs.
Anyway, just wondering. I did read that itis possible to recover, but wanted to know first hand
Thanks,
NJ
Last edited by sickandconfused; 08-24-2005 at 06:35 PM.
As someone who has been diagnosed with bpd I don't believe it can be cured, but people can learn how to manage it. I can get by on a daily basis but it's always there and I just have learned how to control it, without meds. You just have to come to a realization on how your actions affect others and try and control it. Just like a person with tourette syndrome holds in their tics until they are completely comfortable they let it all out, a person with bpd has to hold it in while functioning in society and lets it all out for a few hours in privacy.
I totally agree with aquatilly, I have had bpd for over 25 years now. Medication was no good for me alone, I have learned to manage it. There are no therapists in my area who understand bpd or how to treat it. I've learned through books, workbooks, and online. I was med-free for three years until I started having panic attacks, now I am on an anti-anxiety. I know myself.. and I think that's the trick... Take it one day at a time, sometimes just a moment at a time.
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Recovering Borderline - 20 years +
I wish all of you the very best. It sounds like you have been through the ringer and then some, god bless you. I hope that your difficulties only lessen and your resolve grows ever stronger, thank you for giving the rest of us some hope.....
Please remember, just because us 'veteran' borderlines can manage mostly without meds, there is NOTHING wrong with using meds to get you thru the rough spots. Or at the beginning of therapy. After about a month of a new medication, ask your closest friends and family if they notice a difference in you. Are you easier to get along with? Are you more reasonable? Do they enjoy your company better? If the answers are YES, then by all means, stay on the meds until you know you can control the rages and splitting without them. For me, it took years and years.
My daughter, who's schziophrenic, always said that she couldn't see a difference whether she took the meds or not, BUT her friends and family LIKED her a whole lot BETTER when she TOOK the meds. She's 18 and in college now and still taking her meds.
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Recovering Borderline - 20 years +
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