Friends, Family & Carers Forum

[Raven]

I'm only at the beginning of my journey with treatments as I have only recently been diagnosed but I am looking into possibilities for the future

[BlueButterfly50]

Go see a clinical psychologist. Yes you can have comorbid MI. Anxiety, OCD is common with BPD. I have a certain amount of OCD which combined with BPD makes me super organised with a lot of passion and energy. I take the components of my MI which work for me, put them together and channel them into my work. I use MI to my best advantage. Having MI has made me examine my life more carefully than if I did not have MI. Aristotle said that the unexamined life is not worth living.

[razamataz]

Hi Concerned.. I was a Lifeline telephone counsellor for 7 yrs and was there for many who were suicidal.. It was a place for those to voice their pain and process a lot of emotion .. I don't know if your daughter has ever called Lifeline but she may like the idea of the anonymity.. there is a fantastic course for anyone concerned with how to assist one who is suicidal called ASSIST ,, anyone can do it through Lifeline..

[Crazy_Bug_Lady]

Whoops, pressed send too early...

I also feel suicidal quite often, and for no real reason. My psychiatrist that was the BPD. She gave me a Thought Record Sheet to fill out regularly, but I see that as understanding and dealing with my emotions. It doesn't stop me feeling suicidal.

I am far enough along with medication and treatment to know I shouldn't "act" upon the urges, but it can be a bit confronting for me to feel like this...

(I have an appointment on Thursday, I will discuss it with her)

[BlueButterfly50]

That will all help. For someone with BPD they do not do bad things, they are bad, tainted, contaminated and very ashamed of this. Self-hatred and self loathing destroys self-esteem. I took responsibility for what I said and did. Finally. When I learned to be responsible and see my part in relationship failures and think, I need to learn from this, this is a very humbling experience. I had a great therapist who taught me that her feelings were just as important, but she did this in a gentle way over a long period of time (about five years for the challenging part of our therapy) and twenty years in total.

[CherryBomb]

Great questions from @Kate70 and @Crazy_Bug_Lady

@BlueButterfly50 I wonder if you could describe the symptoms/behaviours of BPD to address @Crazy_Bug_Lady question about moodiness.

Also, for carers, to @Kate70 points, any tips on supporting someone experiencing these symptoms?

[Carolyn]

Treatment that I resonated with is Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and Individual therapy. Every person is different so it's finding the best treatment that sits well with you whether it be DBT, CBT, mentalisation or schema.

[BlueButterfly50]

BPD is a mood disorder. When I was 20 I was a student nurse. Apparently I appeared different to the same people on different days. They said I was not the same person every day. I thought I was. I was so unaware of how I came across to people. I had to learn to act as if. Act as if I were the same person every day and I did this by being very self aware and conscious of what I did and what I said. I had to learn to react in the same way and live in the middle ground rather than really low or really high. I think I have finally grasped that. Everyone at work says I am the same every day now.

[BlueButterfly50]

I've done that course through work and had a few suicide conversations with people. It gave me confidence to ask the hard questions about suicide.

[Jacques]

Why is it that psycologist/psyciatrists do not keep up with latest developments, if they are treating people on a daily basis, it would seem to me to be critical to read all available information on MH, to help treat their patients with the best possible techniques.

Is their any reference material online where i can read up on latest developments?