Misdiagnosis
When it comes to a diagnosis, there is always unfortunately going to be cases where it’s the wrong diagnosis. in the BPD community, it is unfortunately not uncommon for it to happen. When we have these diagnoses such as autism, bipolar, and bpd which all have similar symptoms such as difficulties with interpersonal relationships, mood instability, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts, especially in women, it’s been found difficult to get an accurate diagnosis. In short, there needs to be more research in these disorders and how they present in women, this also leads into a bigger conversation about needing more research with autism and women. In one study it’s been found that a majority of the people in the study that had autism also had BPD. This is to say that, when you have autism, it can make you more vulnerable to developing other mental health disorders when experiencing repeated trauma as a child Dell’Osso L, Carpita B. What misdiagnoses do women with autism spectrum disorder receive in the DSM-5? CNS Spectrums. 2023;28(3):269-270. doi:10.1017/S1092852922000037
I do want to draw attention to sheffield s specifically, as that’s the city where i am, and I think it’s important to talk about it. Sheffield experiences high isolation in the UK, it also experiences high quantity of mental health issues, which in turn creates a high waiting list for diagnosis, and even to simply get a doctors appointment to get the ball rolling. This is not to blame doctors, but to simply shed some light. It shows we need more funding in the NHS, specifically for the mental health sector, and it’s why the charities in sheffield are so needed currently.
Ultimately, it is incredibly important that when we go to the doctors and psychiatrist, we have as much information as possible to help both of you to figure out what it is.
My personal experience with getting diagnosed with BPD.
I had been suffering really badly with intense mood swings, no feeling of sense of self, i had originally been diagnosed with manic depression, then years later I asked to be put on the waiting list for bpd/bipolar, when i was in the assessment and i had explained everything they diagnosed me with bpd, on the condition that I go through some therapy courses. Which i did do, and it took a good few years, but im finally in therapy.
It’s also really important to note that for a lot of people’s cases that it’s not murky with what diagnosis it is, some people like myself will have more obvious symptoms than others.
Its estimated that 75% of people that are diagnosed with bpd are women. There are suggestions that there is an over diagnosis on women who actually have austim because there isn’t enough research on women who have autism who mask.
