Could you have a Personality Disorder?

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I believe that people who have an autistic disorder are more suspectable than NT's to developing a personality disorder. I have been diagnosed with many things, even with schizophrenia of which I was put under case managment for. Finially, a psychiatrist who had all my history which he studied. Diagnosed me with Borderline Personality Disorder. He did not believe I had schizophrenia. This was a relief to me because I have had so many differing opinions and treatments. It has not done me any good to take medications for illnesses that I donot have. Which I have been on and off strong medications since I was 14.
The Psychiatrist that diagnosed BPD prescribed me antipsychotics but I have decided not to take them as I donot have an organic mental illness. I am not going to see him again either because I have studied some of BPD. I beleive I am in control and it is mind over matter.

BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER (BPD) is a addition to mental disorder nosology, added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)of the American Psychiatric Association in 1980. Many aspect of the disorder have been under a matter of controversy, discussion, and research. Perhaps most controversial was the decision to use "borderline" in the official designation of the disorder. It was first used by Adolf Stern in 1938 to describe a group of outpatients who did not profit from classical psychoanalysis and who did not seem to fit into the then standard neurotic or psychotic psychiatric catergories. Depending on the theorist, borderline patients have been viewed as on the borderline between neurosis and psychosis, schizophrenia and nonschizophrenia, the normal and the abnormal, and sanity and insanity.

The disorder is characterized by a pervasive instability in five functional domains: affect regulation, impulse control, self image and experiencing, interpersonal relationships, and reality testing. Dysregulation or emotions includes marked lability of mood, including intense, episodic dysphoria, anxiety, fear, anger and irritability. Impulsive behaviour is common, especially behaviours associated with intense emotions such as violence or "behavioral explosions" assocaited with anger and recurrent avoidance of tasks or precipitous quitting of jobs or school associated with fear and anxiety. A tendency to become involved in intense, chaotic, and unstable relationships may be associated with repeated interpersonal crises and with excessive efforts to avoid abandonment.

Self-image, goals, and preferences (including sexual) are often unclear, unstable, or disturbed, making pursuit of long-term goals difficult. Transient, stress-related severe paranoid ideation or dissociative experiences have been reported in 30 to 75% of BPD patients. Suicide attempts and other non-fatal self-injurious behaviors have said to be the hallmark of BPD. From 70 to 75% of BPD patients have a history of at least one self-injurious act.

Suicide rates are estimated at 8 to 10%. In a series of BPD inpatients followed from 10 to 23 years after hospital discharge, patients exhibiting eight of the BPD criteria when admitted had a suicide rate of 36% compared to a rate of 7% for individuals who meet five to seven criteria. (Stone, Hurt, & Stone, 1987).

The expert consensus is that BPD is best diagnosed using semistructured clinical interviews. Interrater reliability of the major interviews tend to be high and comparable to interviews for other major mental disorders. Comorbidity of BPD with other mental disorders (primarily depression and anxiety but also high rates of eating disorders and substance abuse disorders) and personality disorders (primarily aviodant, narcisstic, and schizotypal) is more the norm than the exception.
Major depression is diagnosed in 24 to 74% of BPD patients, while dysthymia is observed in approximately 3 to 14%. Bipolar Disorder is estimated to occur in 4 to 20% of this population. The most common comorbid anxiety disorder is panic disorder, found in 10 to 25% of BPD patients (Stein & Skodol, 1993). Posttraumatic stress disorder can also be high, especially in those BPD patients with histories of suicide attempts.
The high prevalence of BPD, especially among patients in mental health treatment, the high comorbidity of the disorder, and an association of BPD reports of severe childhood trauma (Paris, Zweig-Frank, & Guzder, 1994) have caused many to question the validity of the diagnoses. These individuals have suggested instead that BPD is best considered a marker of severity and comorbidity, a specific type of mood disorder, or a variation of posttraumatic stress disorder. Others have argued convincingly that the relationship between BPD and both mood and posttraumatic stress disorders is non specific at best (Gunderson & Phillips, 1991). Although association with childhood events suggests a possible etiological factor, it does not in itself negate the specific construct validity of the disorder. Biologically oriented theorists have conceptualized BPD as a set of clinical syndromes, each with its own etiology, course, and outcome based on respective types of biological trauma or disorder associated with the specific syndrome.

Follow-up studies consistently indicate that BPD is chronic. Two to three years after index assesssment, 60 to 70% of patients continued to meet the criteria. Other follow up studies found liitle change in level of functioning and consistently high rates of psychitric hospitalization over two to five years. Four to seven years after index assessment, 57 to 67% of patients continued to meet the criteria. An average of 15 years after index assessment, 25 to 44% continued to meet the criteria.

I don't believe I need to take them anymore. I was very delusional before I was seen by the hospital or mental health. I hadnt seen them for 8 years because I dont like the public psych service for alot of reasons but I was really stressed out so I took the medication. It didnt take me too long to realise what was real and what wasnt. When I realised all I was thinking was not real. I felt so much better and now I completely know what is reality. I wont go back to that thinking because Ive already been through it.

When I first went there they was really nice and encouraging. They said that if I ever wanted help to come and see them. Then all of sudden they diagnosed me with being schizophrenic. Giving me really powerful antipsychotic injections that I reacted badly to. They put me under case managment and I told them 'no I am not having a other injection' She said ok but when I have other episode I will be brought in to hospital and put under a treatment order so basically forced. That makes me furious. One, because they misdiagnosed and two, because they Lie!
They lie all the time to try and get you to do what they want. I dont like that because I am not an idiot and it's disrespectful. So I do not like my case manager. She said she would see me before she goes on her xmas break and she didnt. I run out of medication the other week because they only prescribe a supply for one month. I missed my appointment with the psychiatrist so I rung up as to get him to write out a script I could pick up and no, he wouldnt only enough for one week worth because he needed to see me for a review. What a load of crap. I have been on the medication before I dont need to be reviewed and so I am not seeing him next week. He can keep his script.
They talk to me like I am an idiot and feel like telling them all to get f****d. Theyre not helping me and they are not genuine. I dont like being patronised. I also dont like the control they can have over you, it gives me the creeps.

It sounds very controlling, plus this is a bad time of year with everyone taking time off and changing schedules.

I hope that going off your medication works out all right for you. Sometimes the delusions come back or get confusing and sometimes they don't. Maybe you can reschedule with the psychiatrist?

I'm always missing my appointments... part of the AS.

It's a little concerning. At least maybe you can log on here so we know you are doing okay, while you go off your meds.

That is why I am educating myself about BPD. Normally that is what my case worker does. Helps me understand and learn better ways of coping etc but I am not going back to see them again.
I can be my own counsellor. I have always looked after myself and I know how to.
On the treating doctors report
CONDITION 1, A - schizophrenia, mild autism, personality disorder, anxiety, panic attacks + depression. I DONT HAVE SCHIZOPHRENIA or Depression.
B - Strong familial Hx of mental illness stressors over 12 month peroid.
C- Delusions, paranoia, hearing voices, inability to cope with normal daily functioning I DONOT HEAR VOICES
E- Future planned treatment - Ongoing case managment with mental health services NO NOT ANYMORE
H - Impact on ability to function - This woman is chronically and severly disabled in terms of emotional and interpersonal functioning I DONT AGREE, THATS BS
i - The impact of the condition on the patient is expected to last for
He ticked more than 24 months THAT IS WRONG I AM ALREADY BETTER.
J- Within the next two years the condition is expected to: He ticked Fluctuate. AND HOW Would he know. He should have ticked improve because I believe I will and that is just being negative.
CONDITION 2, A -
Borderline Personality Disorder, severe anxiety and depression
I AM NOT DEPRESSED and I am usually calm person.
B - Hx going back many years recently exacerbated.

Anyway, that is enough of the report. I have heaps of assessment reports I can read if I want to try and understand. I just wonder why. Why in the first place did i get diagnosed with autism and all this crap. What does it do for person. It just makes me feel like I have too many problems and if I beleived all they said I'd pull the trigger and I'd dead. Why dont they just write YOUR f****d on my forehead.
I have got a couple of close friends and my mum and my sister Who could be a support and i go to tell them about BPD diagnose or even just about autism. They dont wanna know or they dont care. Personality Disorders as far as some people isnt real and its just an excuse to act out.
I am sick of other people putting down people with BPD.
FACT People with BPD are not 'bad'
The anger and rejection that people with BPD display mean they are sometimes labelled as 'bad,' 'manipulative' or 'attention-seeking'. While things they do may at times lead to confusion, distress or inconvience for other people, it should be remembered that this behaviour results from feelings of fear, lonliness, desperation, or hopelessness associated with BPD.

I think that there are several women Dxed with BPD who are actually aspies . Many of the traits can be understood from the perspective of coping with AS traits and co-morbids . In my opinion, there is no need for a separate "mental illness" Dx .


Look at each behavior that they are using to define how BPD you are and see if there isn't a more logic reason for it related to trying to function(usually without any support or understanding from society), and see if you don't see some possible connections with AS .

When I went in to treatment to get sober the guy I saw said I was "border-line", BPD....explaining that all though I had some of the same behaviors...self abuse, suicide behavior and attempts, unstable relationships, chemical dependency, delusion beliefs, (that I was possibly an alien), self centeredness, inability to do age appropriate task(social phobia related), anxiety, social avoidance....that my thinking/motivation behind the behavior appeared to be different then traditional BPD . This was in 1990, before there was any awareness of AS but even know there are to many "experts" who still don't believe women can have it . Let me break it down into individual traits .


I was not anorexic but boarder-line because there were many foods I could not tolerate do to texture, smell, bitter taste and poverty ...(believe me, If I could have afford to eat fried shrimp every day, I would have weighed 20 stone) I also did not want to get fat because I knew that our culture idolizes "thin" and hoped it would compensate for some of my many short-comings.

Relationships unstable?...how aspie is that and for to many reasons to list but I will say that one reason was because I attracted people who were themselves unstable and they tended to use and leave me, other times I would get obsessed with some cute guy and then the obsession would just "stop" .

Self-harm....I cut from 16-26...not unusual behavior for aspies who are having melt-downs or dissociating after sensory over loads

Suicide behavior...I never did this for attention and I believed both times that my attempt would work. . I did it because I was lonely, didn't know how to change my inability to connect to people, how to function to do the things that were required of me or how to over come my need to feel connected....it seemed like the logical choice at the time . I honestly did not believe there was even one person in the world who could help me so why would I "call for help"...I'm logical by inclination .


Anxiety...well, if you have sensory issues, executive dysfunction, auditory processing disorder and non-verbal learning disability (which makes you miss 80% of human communication)....why wouldn't you be "anxious" . It is also connected with my "interests" calming me and being forced to stop them causing anxiety . After a life time of experiences trying to socialize and having bad things result...(people being pissed of because of something I said or did, being laughed at, ignored) I don't think it's very illogical that you might end up having some anxiety in these situations...it's called learning from experience and is made much worse when you don't know why it's happening .

Delusional thinking is relative...I happen to think most religious believers are delusional along with a lot of other current human beliefs...the need to get self-esteem by the kind of car you drive or the title on your office door . Most of my "delusions" were not actual "beliefs" but just my trying to think out-side the box in explaining things that really made no sense to me...like "why humans are so damn mean and crazy sometimes" . Unlike the definition of schizophrenia, my inability to function was not caused by these "delusions" they were caused by my AS and co-morbids . The delusions were more for entertainment then the structure of my life .


Manipulative ?....Please explain how this is not considered a part of human nature....it's in advertising, government policies, educational and religious institutions and most human interactions. Usually when some one says your being manipulative it means you are "inconveniencing them by not letting them manipulate you" ....it's very "manipulative" as is most psychiatric DXing .


So, before you adopt the label they have given you, consider each trait individually and see if there might not be a more logical explanation for your having such a trait . I found that many of the problems I was having with depression when away when I stopped letting other people define "normal" to me and just let myself be myself .

Thats alright girl, we like you anyways,
big hug for ya.

Is that response to me aspergian mutant or was you messaging it to Krex p**** cat?

And yes Krex p**** cat you have a point. The Psychiatrist don't seem to take into account or acknowledge my symptoms of autism. All they write down is developmental disability. In any explanations of my behaviours they dont even ask me. They make their own opinion. Like I am borderline that is why I can't control my emotions or I have schizophrenia that is why I am withdrawn and yawning today. It annoys me because alot of what they say is symptoms of BPD or PTSD may not be. Did they ever think when Ive been overemotional or violent that I may have been having a 'meltdown' and not an disordered personality episode.

They don't really know me. All their work is just guessing and it annoys me that they always think they are right!

I was diagnosed by a forsenic psych with PTSD and a personality disorder but again autism wasnt taken into consideration. They focus on one condition so much to the exclusion of others of
Which are proberly more relevant than to what they are carrying on about.

That is part of my problem with psychology....you either have your frustrated "artist types" that try and see what they want that all ready fits their preexisting beliefs (can't think out side their text books) or the Skinnererst who think we are just machines that can be fixed with a little shock treatment for bad behavior . Neither thinks "scientifically or imaginatively", I think the field tends to attract a lot of crazy people (that's why I went into it in college), trying to fix themselves and stupid or lazy people who just can't do real work . There are exceptions but they are the minority and you never know if you will actually find an intelligent or creative thinker in that mix .


The funny thing about psychology is that they tend to follow whats "trendy" and because their diagnosis are so subjective, they are a bit like reading news paper astrology or fortune cookies ....you see what your looking for and avoid what doesn't fit . I'm sure it's a fun game but the results are not very fun for the people who are misDxed and resulting receive the wrong advice/drugs etc.

Once apon a time they thought women who lived alone in the woods with cats as their only friends who had obsessive interest in the scientific use of herbs for healing, avoided people and often talked to themselves and said things others didn't understand....were witches, and they burned them...latter they thought they were insane
and locked them in psych wards....now they say they have "personality disorders and medicate or try and talk them into being like everyone else. I think they were aspies .

IMHO, everyone has a personality disorder. Some are more disordered than others.

I'm sure everyone here who has AS will have Schizoid PD.

I get positive to these personality disorders:

Schizotypal PD
Schizoid PD
Paranoid PD
OC PD

Is this in the UK? The UK government run health service is awful, and is frequently used by American free marketeers as a reason not to have single payer health insurance, which they mix up with government care where doctors are govt employees. If you have a physical disorder the UK health system is maddening enough, if you have a brain disorder you're at their mercy.

There's a blog called The New Republic about some guy in England who lives on an old boat and does regular battle with the UK NHS. He's an aspie and in his 40s. He also tests in the 98th percentile on IQ tests that are aspie-favorable. He can't work, so he gets a few hundred pounds a month in general assistance and lives on the boat. His caseworkers range from dumb blonde to arrogant and too smart to just evil.

I am lucky to have a good psych who has me on a good mix of pills to combat comorbids, that and years of mimicking NT social conventions means that I can pass pretty well. I still can't hold a job, because I couldn't for years and for many years in the US there have been 50 or more applicants for every job opening so the interviewers choose people like themselves (usually upper middle class young adult whites in corporate, and the trades and services are heavily ethnic, the manager's ethnicity is the workers'). I am starting my own business.

Luckily for me the last four psych people confirmed a misdiagnosis of Somatization Disorder which I was diagnosed with simply because I have AS and several serious illnesses...totally missed the perseveration there...

I eventually wound up in the hospital where I was diagnoed with Bipolar. I had been dxed with AS but couldn't get the official eval b/c i was in the hospital.

My Dr. waited six months to tell me I had BPD because he wanted to be SURE before he put a label on me that will change my treatment forever.

I'm on a cocktail of a mood stabilizer, two A-Ds, and an antipsychotic...the meds have done wonders for me. I don't think I would be here if my drs. hadn't gotten my chemical inbalances straight first.

Now the real work begins when I go to DBT.

i have oppositional defiant disorder that is not resolved completely. i was severely ODD in childhood. i used to think of my self as "ODD AS"