Substance abuse and BPD?

[Diana82]

How common is it for a BPD to have had a history of drug abuse?

My exBPD quite openly told me she used to take speed every day. And she also abused cocaine and pills.

And when I met her she claimed she hadn't done speed or cocaine in 5 years. But still did spliffs.

I noticed whenever she had a spliff, she would be less sad and moody.

But I also noticed she could be very bouncy and hyper like she was back on speed :/

Just wondering... do BPDs self medicate through street drugs?

I know my ex didn't like to be on medication from any doctors. She seemed to have a weird aversion to it. Almost like a hippy thing!

Also, I suspect she may still be on hard drugs and was lying. And this is why her moods are particularly bad. Do street (non medicinal) drugs soothe and then exacerbate BPD symptoms ?

[waverider]

Self medication with many substances is common. The issue with prescription drugs is they dont like being told (controlled) what drugs to take, so either avoid or dose as they think fit, or impulse dictates, not necessarily as per prescription  or  structured dosing. That throws them into overdose/withdrawal cycles. The side effects of this are often then treated with other "medications'.

The end result is escalation of instability.

All kinds of drugs/substances make things worse when not taken in a controlled or structured way, whether street or prescribed.

[maxsterling]

I've read it is extremely common.  My girlfriend is 11 years sober from drugs, but she is currently using food to self medicate, and I think has previously used sex.  The people in AA would call this a "dry drunk".  I go to Nar-Anon meetings, and it seems like everyone there is dealing with an addict that has either been diagnosed BPD, Bipolar, or they suspect has one or other or both of those disorders.  As my girlfriend describes, it is rooted in self hatred and her feeling that she lacks identity.

[Diana82]

Interesting...

This girl told me once that one of the reasons she took drugs was to get her mother's attention.

Her mum works with disadvantaged youth who have previously had addiction issues.

Kind of now sounds like she may have been neglected as a kid and that contributed to BPD.

Do BPDs also take drugs to get attention from parents?

[Changingman]

My x abused alcohol and drugs till she fell over, lose control of her face muscles, shout, rage, flirt, go crazy, laugh etc etc... .Nightly. I thought this was her *problem*, now I think people who drink are BPD etc. drinking is a symptom the deeper issues are mental health.

[waverider]

My x abused alcohol and drugs till she fell over, lose control of her face muscles, shout, rage, flirt, go crazy, laugh etc etc... .Nightly. I thought this was her *problem*, now I think people who drink are BPD etc. drinking is a symptom the deeper issues are mental health.

No doubt excessive alcohol and drug abuse masks underlying issues. i used to think alcohol was my partners problem. Then at times when that was under control (and currently is) I was surprised to see a lot of the behavior still there, that I expected to disappear.

The lack of structure, foresight and appreciation of consequences also makes them vulnerable to addictions as they deny it is potentially a problem, even to themselves, in time to stop.

Do BPDs also take drugs to get attention from parents?

Maybe out of rebellion and demonstrating they wont be told what to do, and extreme version of many teenagers attitude, except they get stuck in it.

[amja77]

This is very interesting. My bfwBPD used to be addicted to drugs. He was addicted to anything and everything. He had gone to at least 10 different facilities for this issue.

He told me that he no longer does "street drugs" but he still takes narcotics/opiates. He states that he doesn't do this to get high, but only to ease the pain in his back and knee from past knee surgeries, etc. I don't completely believe him. He's so manipulative and cunning, that I don't know what to believe anymore.

I notice when he's on "pills" though. His eyes are glassy, he acts "out of sorts," he's clumsy and he flies off the handle much quicker. He admitted that he acted this way because he combined the pills with drinking (he drinks everyday, by the way. He's also an alcoholic). He also admitted that he shouldn't have done this. But everything he says seems to be contrived in order to mask his real motives.

The only odd thing is, he can act so "normal" sometimes! It's crazy to me. It's a legitimate Jekyll/Hyde syndrome. I just don't know what to believe anymore.

[waverider]

This is very interesting. My bfwBPD used to be addicted to drugs. He was addicted to anything and everything. He had gone to at least 10 different facilities for this issue.

He told me that he no longer does "street drugs" but he still takes narcotics/opiates. He states that he doesn't do this to get high, but only to ease the pain in his back and knee from past knee surgeries, etc. I don't completely believe him. He's so manipulative and cunning, that I don't know what to believe anymore.

I notice when he's on "pills" though. His eyes are glassy, he acts "out of sorts," he's clumsy and he flies off the handle much quicker. He admitted that he acted this way because he combined the pills with drinking (he drinks everyday, by the way. He's also an alcoholic). He also admitted that he shouldn't have done this. But everything he says seems to be contrived in order to mask his real motives.

The only odd thing is, he can act so "normal" sometimes! It's crazy to me. It's a legitimate Jekyll/Hyde syndrome. I just don't know what to believe anymore.

His real motive is to block out the real world, as he has done this so long the thought of doing without these blocking methods is too scary. So hence the need to move from one blocker to the other in a delusional approach to getting off.

[starkwell]

My BPDw is an alcoholic. She drinks approximately 10-12 oz. of hard alcohol nightly. Before this, she was addicted to prescription opiates.

Her whole family are alcoholics but she never drank except socially until our second child was born. Then she went through some kind of post-partum depression and invented a "back injury" that could never be diagnosed by a doctor. Regardless of the non-diagnosis she was given a massive prescription for opiate painkillers. She was addicted in a week. After a year she wound up having a seizure and was taken off the painkillers cold-turkey. She began forging prescriptions to get more of the drug. When that was finally discovered and cut off, she wound up in a mental ward coming off the withdrawl symptoms.

Soon after coming out of the mental ward she began to drink. I don't buy her the liquor but I don't try to deny it, either. Why? Because until she deals with her BPD then what's the point of trying to deal with the alcohol abuse? The alcohol is just a symptom of her root issues (abusive childhood).

Anyhow, these people are in massive pain... .whatever they can't spit back at you, they'll attempt to drown out with drugs and alcohol. Unfortunately, this just causes more pain for everyone involved.

It's a terrible cycle we're all in... .

[waverider]

I don't buy her the liquor but I don't try to deny it, either. Why? Because until she deals with her BPD then what's the point of trying to deal with the alcohol abuse? The alcohol is just a symptom of her root issues (abusive childhood).

I have now taken the approach that it is not my place to deal with addictions it is just too hard. It is constant and there is no respite and you make yourself ill trying. I wont enable them, but neither will I attempt to moderate or control it.

Addictions are like a freight train heading for a cliff, if you put yourself in front of them you just get run over and it goes over the cliff regardless.

It is a hard cycle because the BPD may cause the addiction issues, but until they roll back the addiction issues they cant address the BPD. As partners we can address neither, it is up to them