Have you or someone you know been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder and then been "cured"

Most of my fellow professionals in mental health argue that personality disorders cannot be changed and that patients with Borderline PD are doomed to a lifetime of recurrent hospitalizations, self injury, and suicidal ideation. I know a patient who had difficulty in her early twenties but improved significantly by her mid twenties and now would not meet criteria for the disorder. Anyone else either feel that they are "cured" or that they are significantly improved? If so, what do you think helped you?

I am by no means like most of my colleagues. I believe that personality disorders can be changed. I was interested in hearing other stories about this and what helped people to get better.

Borderline Personality Disorder cannot be changed because the person likes the way he or she is all the time. However, BPD is probably one of the most mis-diagnosed personality disorders today. Stress, especially stress caused by the inability to meet one's own expectations, can cause someone to present as BPD. Some medications can help BPD slightly but the problem is people with the condition DO NOT WANT TO CHANGE.

Medication doesn't cure BPD, but can help other disorders that often accompany it, such as depression. It was once thought BPD wasn't curable, but now many people believe DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) can help some people with BPD. Report It

BPD's hard on those who have it, not just those around them. Also, people w/ it fear abandonment, but their illness causes them to push people away, leading to abandonment. Plus, many people w/ BPD percieve themselves as bad people/have low self esteem. All of this considered, many want help. Report It

Well then your fellow health professinals are adults stuck in the rut that we call life, too consumed with their intelligence to open their minds to change, alternatives, or possiblity.

I know plenty of people with that disorder and other mental disorders that have changed their life and are normal functioning human beings.

Nothing is really irreversible except the mind of serial killers and pedophiles.

And you know how they did it? Through prayer and finding a relationship with their creator.

But that won't fall under a medical cure and, no, we can not market it on tv or through pharmaceutical reps, so your medical health professional friends will not find that an "acceptable" medical answer.

Do something for yourself, as a doctor, and find alternatives to all types of mental diseases other than prozac, zoloft, and paxil.

Humans are from this earth and there are things in this earth which can heal them, including herbs, a healthy diet, and a relationship with the One that created them.

So that way, your patients won't deteriorate and die of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease brought on by chemicals that don't cure, but do make money.

Please don't go down the road of a closed-minded individual like your fellow "professionals."

prozac

YES and it is me! I was also diagnosed with Bipolar in my teens. What wasn't looked at was my experimenting with drugs and alcohol before my diagnosis. I attend a 12 step program and according to my doctors and therapist, I have found a "cure" That "cure" is learning to deal with life in an appropriate way and not hiding behind a diagnosis. For 20 years I was told I would never get better or be off medication. Well I am and I have gotten off medication(with my doctors help) What I was doing in therapy was being shown to me by the people in the program. I found my way through other people who were there before me. All had been diagnosed with a mental disorder.(Borderline, Bipolar, Schizo, and clinical depression) and most have recovered. I was also informed by my doctor that only 10% of diagnosed people are "incurable" and the other 80% just want the magic pills.(I believe the other 10 successfully use therapy) The "cure" is nothing but hard work at changing ones self, thought patterns, and behavior. It isn't easy but I can say it is worth the fight. I lost 20 years to a diagnosis when I could have had a life if a doctor would have had the time to look at the bigger picture.

Patients with BPD who are diagnosed correctly will struggle with interpersonal relationships for the long term. With age the outbursts or aggressive episodes usually subside and there are people who certainly manage their lives very well. It doesn't mean they are cured but that they are managing their disorder successfully. This does not necessarily involve drugs either as many SSRIs and Tricyclic drugs can induce mania in BPD patients.

In the case of your young friend having a period of the disorder, i would suggest that she was mis diagnosed and perhaps suffered from conduct disorder or something else. Borderline is a challenge for the long haul and it doesn't come and go. But there is no need to sentence anyone to a lifetime of recurrent hospitalisation!

I think that Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) has such a broad category of symptoms that many non-ill people get lumped into this group. Some marginal people that may be going through a rough time in their lives get this diagnosis which tends to stay with them. For example, I believe that if a patient has a depression problem that they could in fact get "cured" either overtime, medication, changing their environment, counseling, or a combination of these.

I was diagnosed with BPD about 5 years ago and I have had no more depression episodes for over 3 years. What "cured" me was a major change in my environment. I left an abusive husband and I take Effexor 375 mg/day. Just by leaving my environment,which made me feel horrible, I have been able to make a 180 degree turn around. I don't have the stress, thoughts, and negative outlook on life.

So, now my Dr. does not feel that I meet the criteria for being a Borderline, now he says if anything I would be a Type II Bi-Polar. As far as recurrent depressive episodes I have not had any since 2003. At my worst I was never hospitalized, tried self-injury, or thought of suicide.

No

I would say that a cure is not possible, because if a person really had a personality disorder, it wouldn't, by definition, just go away. Sure, I think people can make healthier choices, but for it to just "go away" probably means it was a wrong diagnosis and would have been some other disorder.