COMPARISON: BiPolar Disorder vs BPD
duncanville1:
Yes Bi-polar individuals will benefit from mood stabilizers and anti-depressants, it is believed to involve chemical imbalance in the brain leading to the symptoms. Personality disorders are believed to be non chemically based. They are dysfunctions and distortions in the persons personality traits. These are learned and developed behaviors. Medication would only be useful to treat co-morbid symptoms such as the depression.
Runningasfastasican:
Really good overview,Skip. Thanks.
My experience in the difference between BI-Polar and BPD lead me to believe that there is a significant difference between the two... .A BI-Polar individual cycles at a far different rate than a BPD... .a BI Polar individual when they shift... can stay in a certain mode for months and even possibly years, before things fall apart... .and shift into another mode, that likewise can last for months or years... .and in the case of BI-Polar individuals, medication can be very effective in promoting stability for them... .my experience with BPD... .is that they cycle in days or even hours between various states... .at the risk of sounding rude... .BPD makes BI-Polars look stable... .this is all just my un-educated opinion based on observations of both types of people... .take care all
heartbroken71:
I have also read that people with BPD are often mis diagnosed as bi polar. My ex said he was bi polar but I really think he is just BPD. I have a friend who is bi polar and her mood swings take sometimes years where as my ex would litterally be minutes. I was loved one day and hated the next and I did nothing.
innerspirit:
Skip, thanks for the stats about co-morbidity of the two and the explanation for why bi-polar is more typically the first diagnosis.
Rose1:
My ex is bi polar, adhd and BPD - it's possible to have all 3. The chemical imbalance is hereditary - my D has inherited bi polar but not the others and is not BPD. There are environmental impacts on both bi polar and schizophrenia and varying degrees of the illness as well. There are also a number of types of bi polar including rapid cycling and ultra rapid cycling types - common in young people. My D was ultra rapid cycling as a young teenager.
Bi polar does respond to medication although there are variations there like with all things.
The thinking is that BPD may be a coping mechanism by people with bi polar, or a response to an abusive situation, or both. Reality is no one really knows although it appears to be a learned behaviour rather than a genetic chemical imbalance. Bear in mind that a child with this tendency, being raised in a family where untreated bi polar and other conditions exist, rarely has the structure in place to deal with the illness appropriately.
Having said that, I have seen people with various degrees of bi polar cope very well with life, or not at all, have other personality disorders, abuse drugs or alcohol which makes the situation worse - a lot depends on the individual, their willingness to work with the illness and whatever else might be going on - no different to anyone else really.
BPD has some crossover symptoms. Of course BPD has some crossover symptoms common to all of us if we are honest about it - it's the degree of difficulty and impact on life and others that makes it a disorder.
There is also a group with BPD who have suffered severe abuse as children - again, is it learned, or a coping mechanism? My H's ex was severely abused but in hindsight there is also more going on in the family than BPD. Paranoid schizophrenia for one.
I have for years thought there might be two distinct causes for BPD - severe childhood abuse or learned behaviour coupled with bi polar - symptoms similar. There has also been some information suggesting that some medications that work for bi polar also have some effect in BPD - perhaps other things going on there. My psych textbook is unclear about causes, but more informative about bi polar. The interesting thing is that this illness can be triggered by external stimuli - ie drug use, stress, or be noticeable from a very young age like in my D's case. A lot depends on how many genes are implicated. The more that is found out the more it is realised there is really no such thing as "classic bi polar". Everyone is an individual.
Hope this helps - many years of research has gone into the above, but there is no clear cause really. Take care, Rose
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