BPD Criteria

Written by Dr. Leland Heller

QUESTION:

I'm an 18 year old girl who meets all of the criteria for BPD. I was diagnosed with it about 10 months ago while in a therapeutic boarding school (my behavior got me sent away). But ever since I returned, my new therapist and my friends tell me that I was misdiagnosed and that my old therapist was just giving me a cop-out. I stopped seeing my therapist and am now having trouble in my two most important relationships. They're so volatile. Anyway, I don't know what to do. Who do I trust? Am I just a normal teenager going through normal stuff, as everyone says, or do I suffer from BPD? How do I find out and know for sure?

DR. HELLER'S ANSWER:

The criteria are very specific. The diagnosis is established by fitting 5/9 or more criteria since puberty in every area of life. Adolescence is not the same as the BPD, and doesn't cause 5/9 criteria to fit. There is a wealth of information on this website that may be of use to you.

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