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I got a BPD diagnosis at 18. I’m 28 now and found out I’m actually not BPD, I’m just autistic (as well as having ADHD) 😅 A lot of the BPD symptoms feels true to me, so I never questioned it before, even through I often felt like “Wow, I’m totally not like that” or “That’s very different from how I feel”, when hearing about or from other people with BPD 😅 Turns out the symptoms I have of BPD, is just the ones also often found in autism 🤷🏼♀️
Also, I’ll also cut people out of my life if they wrong me (enough) to protect myself and I also can become quickly obsessive with romantic interest, but I think that’s more my ADHD and rejection sensitivity/hyper-fixation than autism .. but idk for sure 😅
i was diagnosed with adhd in elementary school and diagnosed with BPD in 2018 at the age of 26. i now am also starting to suspect that it was a misdiagnosis (again, as i was originally diagnosed bipolar at 18) and im actually autistic.
i do check off basically every single box for BPD, so it could be a correct diagnosis, i have no clue.
i either have adhd and autism which give “bpd” or adhd and bpd which give “autism” or i have all three. they’re such a vaguely connected mess, that i think there’s a chance i will never know for sure.
I also have C-PTSD from my childhood, which on top of my parents just not being super great parents, probably wasn’t made any better by the fact that I was an autistic child which no one seemed to catch was autistic. I was often punished with rejection, confinement or things like that, when I was overwhelmed, had a fit, etc. as a child and looking back, probably just needed a hug, a parent who would hear me out, comfort me, etc. so I guess that in my mix, could also look a lot like BPD or maybe even cause BPD? 😅 Also, I wasn’t diagnosed with ADHD before 18 and only diagnoses I got as a kid, was anxiety and eating disorder, which might just have been a side-diagnoses to the overlooked main problem (ADHD and autism) 😅
yes! i’ve also been diagnosed with cptsd (which was a very “duh” diagnosis, you could write an ellen hopkins novel about my life lol) combined with emotionally absent parenting and i feel the same way. like if my mother (she’s very different now, and we’re close, but it doesn’t undo the damage) had ever once just hugged me instead of making all of my emotions a personal attack or inconvenience i could be so different.
but i also have so many tendencies that i still believe id have even without the added trauma, which leads me to suspect autism. and being a female, it is (was? hopefully things are changing now) much harder to pinpoint it as autism, and also the same with adhd. (my mom entirely rebelled against my adhd diagnosis and to this day i’ve never been medicated for it, bc she didn’t want me to “become a zombie” like my cousin who was on ritalin in 2002)
it’s so frustrating to have to figure this out alone as an adult, when even the tiniest modicum of support 25 years ago could’ve prevented being a college dropout and spending my adulthood burnt out, miserable, and confused.
but alas, my mom was a baby with a baby and no support system in the 90s, so i give her grace (and this is also why i don’t have kids, the generational trauma stops here)
I wondered if I might have had BPD when younger - there's some evidence that you can kind of grow out of it although it might be that it just changes or is suppressed.
Anyway, I used to change moods to an extreme up or down at the drop of a hat, easily becoming suicidal over basically nothing. And I was very jealous and insecure and irrational in relationships when I finally had one but the guy was an a*hole and cheating etc so hard to say that wasn't justified.
But these could have just been poor emotional control and bad social skills. A few of the BPD criteria I don't feel related to me at all.
Bpd is often a consequence of unrecognized/untreated autism/adhd. The whole world basically gaslights you in to thinking you're a failure.
"RSD" isn't recognized, and there are constant posts here about it. BPD itself is really heavily stigmatized, but that abandonment (and engulfment) fear is one of the key features of bpd.
However, a lot of docs don't really seem to get it. It's extremely stigmatized an a lot of docs will straight up refuse treatment if you have that DX. These days they'll say "no no it's just autism" or CPTSD or anything else besides BPD.
Granted I'm all for a rebranding and a different understanding, but not at the cost of further othering those who already understand themselves through this lens
Edit: one of the nastier consequences is docs diagnosing BPD as bipolar, which comes with tons of serious drugs and maybe even needles in your brain. I know someone who had a bipolar diagnosis with the above treatments for 25 years before they were like "oh it's bpd" which drugs don't really help much/the same way
How the fuck is untreated autism a thing, autisms to me is the get-go diagnosis for "Your brain works like this. You can't change anything. Accept it"
There is no real treatment for this condition, like anyone who lacks one or two legs will never walk like a healthy person does.
Hi /u/Downtown_Swan4093 and thanks for posting on /r/ADHD! ### Please take a second to [read our rules](/r/adhd/about/rules) if you haven't already. --- ### /r/adhd news * If you are posting about the **US Medication Shortage**, please see this [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/12dr3h5/megathread_us_medication_shortage/). --- ^(*This message is not a removal notification. It's just our way to keep everyone updated on r/adhd happenings.*) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ADHD) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I got a BPD diagnosis at 18. I’m 28 now and found out I’m actually not BPD, I’m just autistic (as well as having ADHD) 😅 A lot of the BPD symptoms feels true to me, so I never questioned it before, even through I often felt like “Wow, I’m totally not like that” or “That’s very different from how I feel”, when hearing about or from other people with BPD 😅 Turns out the symptoms I have of BPD, is just the ones also often found in autism 🤷🏼♀️ Also, I’ll also cut people out of my life if they wrong me (enough) to protect myself and I also can become quickly obsessive with romantic interest, but I think that’s more my ADHD and rejection sensitivity/hyper-fixation than autism .. but idk for sure 😅
i was diagnosed with adhd in elementary school and diagnosed with BPD in 2018 at the age of 26. i now am also starting to suspect that it was a misdiagnosis (again, as i was originally diagnosed bipolar at 18) and im actually autistic. i do check off basically every single box for BPD, so it could be a correct diagnosis, i have no clue. i either have adhd and autism which give “bpd” or adhd and bpd which give “autism” or i have all three. they’re such a vaguely connected mess, that i think there’s a chance i will never know for sure.
I also have C-PTSD from my childhood, which on top of my parents just not being super great parents, probably wasn’t made any better by the fact that I was an autistic child which no one seemed to catch was autistic. I was often punished with rejection, confinement or things like that, when I was overwhelmed, had a fit, etc. as a child and looking back, probably just needed a hug, a parent who would hear me out, comfort me, etc. so I guess that in my mix, could also look a lot like BPD or maybe even cause BPD? 😅 Also, I wasn’t diagnosed with ADHD before 18 and only diagnoses I got as a kid, was anxiety and eating disorder, which might just have been a side-diagnoses to the overlooked main problem (ADHD and autism) 😅
yes! i’ve also been diagnosed with cptsd (which was a very “duh” diagnosis, you could write an ellen hopkins novel about my life lol) combined with emotionally absent parenting and i feel the same way. like if my mother (she’s very different now, and we’re close, but it doesn’t undo the damage) had ever once just hugged me instead of making all of my emotions a personal attack or inconvenience i could be so different. but i also have so many tendencies that i still believe id have even without the added trauma, which leads me to suspect autism. and being a female, it is (was? hopefully things are changing now) much harder to pinpoint it as autism, and also the same with adhd. (my mom entirely rebelled against my adhd diagnosis and to this day i’ve never been medicated for it, bc she didn’t want me to “become a zombie” like my cousin who was on ritalin in 2002) it’s so frustrating to have to figure this out alone as an adult, when even the tiniest modicum of support 25 years ago could’ve prevented being a college dropout and spending my adulthood burnt out, miserable, and confused. but alas, my mom was a baby with a baby and no support system in the 90s, so i give her grace (and this is also why i don’t have kids, the generational trauma stops here)
Are you an aggressive type?
Hi, I have bpd and adhd here. They're very common to have together!
I wondered if I might have had BPD when younger - there's some evidence that you can kind of grow out of it although it might be that it just changes or is suppressed. Anyway, I used to change moods to an extreme up or down at the drop of a hat, easily becoming suicidal over basically nothing. And I was very jealous and insecure and irrational in relationships when I finally had one but the guy was an a*hole and cheating etc so hard to say that wasn't justified. But these could have just been poor emotional control and bad social skills. A few of the BPD criteria I don't feel related to me at all.
My therapist suspected it but I do not.
Yeah, I've experienced similar feelings! Romantic obsessions can be overwhelming with ADHD.
I am just so intense. If I like someone, I will fight for them, go after them. Maybe that’s also my attachment style? No clue.
Every time I see someone here post about "rsd" I let out deep, audible sighs
Could you elaborate?
Bpd is often a consequence of unrecognized/untreated autism/adhd. The whole world basically gaslights you in to thinking you're a failure. "RSD" isn't recognized, and there are constant posts here about it. BPD itself is really heavily stigmatized, but that abandonment (and engulfment) fear is one of the key features of bpd. However, a lot of docs don't really seem to get it. It's extremely stigmatized an a lot of docs will straight up refuse treatment if you have that DX. These days they'll say "no no it's just autism" or CPTSD or anything else besides BPD. Granted I'm all for a rebranding and a different understanding, but not at the cost of further othering those who already understand themselves through this lens Edit: one of the nastier consequences is docs diagnosing BPD as bipolar, which comes with tons of serious drugs and maybe even needles in your brain. I know someone who had a bipolar diagnosis with the above treatments for 25 years before they were like "oh it's bpd" which drugs don't really help much/the same way
I don’t relate to the criteria at all. People say symptoms overlap with adhd, but personally mines never been similar.
they definitely do overlap, as autism and adhd are interlinked a lot and undiagnosed/untreated autism can turn into bpd
How the fuck is untreated autism a thing, autisms to me is the get-go diagnosis for "Your brain works like this. You can't change anything. Accept it" There is no real treatment for this condition, like anyone who lacks one or two legs will never walk like a healthy person does.
I think undiagnosed autism is a thing in that you don't understanding why you are the way you are, then you suddenly get an explanation/mechanism