BPD and Dissociative Identity Disorder

Written by Dr. Leland Heller

QUESTION:

I have been seeking treatment for my illnesses for almost eight years (I'm 30). I have been diagnosed with BPD, DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder), and Major Depressive Disorder. I fit many more than the necessary criteria for BPD , but now that has been listed as "deferred". Is that because when my stress level is overwhelming, I apparently dissociate in a way described to me by others as "flagrantly and floridly multiple"., and when things are kept as

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stable as I can manage them My dissociation is much less noticeable, although always present to some degree? So do I stabilize down to BPD and as stress increases swing to the far end of the dissociate continuum? It seems very much like this to me, the manifestations are so varied. What do you think??

By the way, I take Zoloft and Effexor. They do help with the depression, but not with the dissociation or with the BPD symptoms. Please excuse the verbosity its a vice of mine. Thanks for your input in this forum. I have read many of the posts and found them familiar and encouraging.

DR. HELLER'S ANSWER:

I don't have a great deal of experience with individuals suffering from DID (f.k.a. multiple personality disorder). I've taken care of 5 that I knew of. Every one of them also had the BPD. I would be surprised if it turns out that some individuals with DID didn't have the BPD also, since the traumas that cause DID also cause the BPD.

Every DID patient I've taken care of required an anti-epileptic medication such as Tegretol. Tegretol - which sometimes needs to be combined with an additional anti-epileptic medication and/or Risperdal - works on the dissociative symptoms. In my experience the blood level needs to be in the upper half of normal.

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