BPDFamily.com

I am confused because my daughter was diagnosed some time ago with Bpd and depression. I know that with the right help and self work and medication that depression problems can improve significantly.  But what about Bpd traits?  Do they stay with a person for live, go into remission, or go away?  She is doing well and I don't see much written about recovery from Bpd.  Any thoughts or references on this?   

Hi Kate736,

Welcome and hello  :)

I'm sorry for what brings you here, and glad you found the site. It helps to talk to others going through the same things.

There is a discussion on this topic about treatment and remittance (https://bpdfamily.com/content/ending-conflict) that you might find useful. If your daughter is a teen, I recommend Blaise Aguirre's book on BPD in Adolescence (2nd edition) that has recent research on the same topic.

It does seem like things have changed a lot in the last 20 years and there are improvements although research can take a while to trickle into the mainstream, and sometimes even clinical practitioners are behind.

We also have members here who have children (both teens and adults) whose BPD traits are in remission, and they can share their stories.

I remember listening to Gundersen, a leading expert on BPD, talk about how the DSM does not do a good job of defining severity of BPD, and that this would help shed some light on how to treat different kinds of BPD sufferers.

The key, too, is figuring out not only what treatment works, and how motivated the child is, but also what changes are made to create a more validating environment. That's us.  :)

How is your daughter doing at the moment? Is she accepting her dual diagnoses?

I don't know about recovery but as a friend of mine once said, "we all have to learn how to manage our crazzies." 

My dd21 is in a much better spot than when she was 18 and living on the streets. She is in school, has a job as a medical assistant and been living in her own apt for 13 months.  Is she "cured"  no I don't think so but I keep enough of a distance so as not to be drawn into her drama.  Her boyfriend seems to balance her well which is one of the main reason I like him.

I think she is more discriminate with her emotions knowing who/when/where.  such as she stills has a reason to go to the ER about every 60 days and can even get herself admitted now and then, however she never calls me about these incidences because she knows I will be unperplexed and remind her of her credit. 

What is still sad to me s I know she could be so much happier, she just can;t get there.