Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi!
So I’m a 34year old women who was first diagnosed with borderline personality disorder which now is generally called emotionally unstable personality disorder at 18 yrs old but I never felt I ‘fitted’ into that box so to speak but I did have some traits. I always felt it was my social communication that I struggled with, so I was referred to a speak therapist and then an autism referral and last week was diagnosed as having autism.
To cut a long story short, i wanted to see if anyone else was diagnosed with EUPD before getting an autism diagnosis? And if much has changed with regards to your mental health support or medication?
Hello,
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (EUPD) are the same diagnosis, BPD was what it was originally called, but it was changed to EUPD around 2010 / 2011, partly because BPD was originally coined on the basis that people with it where on the borderline of neurosis and psychosis, yet not everyone with a diagnosis of BPD experiences psychosis.
TW: Refers to Self Harm
I was diagnosed with BPD / EUPD in 2008, without an assessment by a nurse who decided I had it based on sharing with her a one off incident of trauma as a child. I was sent to a detrimental therapy group for those with the diagnosis. I say detrimental because it was there I learnt to self-harm and acquired OTC medication to mix with alcohol to effectively knock myself out.
A psychiatrist confirmed the diagnosis later that year, and it became EUPD by 2010.
initially, I accepted the diagnosis, I felt like finally I knew what was wrong, but looking back I was needing a fix because something was wrong, but it wasn’t EUPD.
Over years with more therapy, I realised I didn’t have EUPD, and questioned the diagnosis repeatedly, pleaded and begged for someone to explain how I met the criteria but no-one would.
In 2020, I finally was reassessed and told I didn’t have EUPD, and perhaps never did, as my symptoms started to late it life, the emotional instability, suicidal ideation and anxiety, mood swings etc.
In January 2022, I was diagnosed with autism, after I asked for an assessment in 2021. I knew very little about autism, but felt it needed to be considered as one thing in particular stood out, which screamed autism - sensory issues.
I took my first overdose in 2010, five months after moving into a flat, I couldn’t stand the excessive noise, mostly from the flat above me, and overdosed. I still live here, it will be 13 years this year, I have tried to move for 12 years.
There have been multiple overdoses living here, all have occurred on the back of meltdowns due to excessive noise, and I’ve been sectioned twice, again, on the back of excessive noise.
I am angry that no-one put two and two together for years, that I was autistic, especially as all MH meltdowns have been connected to noise.
I was offered no support when I got my autism diagnosis, and I am still coming to terms with it.
My home is hell, but despite having medical priority for two years on the housing register there has been nothing to apply for as all single properties such as bungalows are age restricted, and this is despite the fact I have mobility issues and also need a level access shower.
If it wasn’t for the fact I was a carer for my dad, I wouldn’t continue fighting.
I am 45, and I’ve lost 17 years of my life due to being mis-diagnosed with EUPD.
All women should be screened for autism before being given a diagnosis of EUPD.
Hi, sounds like you have had a similar experience to me, i have also been sectioned during a meltdown although MHT thought it was typical behaviour for someone with EUPD and was obviously had fear of rejection without really asking what was causing the ‘crisis’ if they bothered to find out it was because my routine had been changed due to parents moving. I wasn’t feeling rejection I just couldn’t cope with my routine changing and not knowing how to express why I was distressed
Also like yourself I accepted my diagnosis as I just know something was wrong and I wasn’t ‘normal’ or like ‘other people’ and basically put all my trust in the doctors who diagnosed. Although being in DBT therapy with other EUPD patients I realised that actually I’m not like ‘these people’ either, I did have some traits similar traits but I definitely realised that I accepted this diagnosis to easily without ( I believe) having a full mental health/ ASD assessment. I feel once you get diagnosed with EUPD it sticks and also attracts a lot of stigma.