Bipolar Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder often confused

[David Baxter PhD]

Bipolar disorder often misdiagnosed, study reveals
by Paul Bright, The Examiner
July 3, 2009

A recent study released by the Journal of Psychiatry seems to suggest that bipolar disorder is being misdiagnosed at a regular rate. According to one study of 82 patients, many had been diagnosed without the use of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID). Once the SCID was actually applied, the results were compared to over 500 patients who had not been previously diagnosed. Most of the 82 patients actually had borderline personality disorder and not bipolar disorder.

In an earlier study, 700 patients were interviewed. 150 said they had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but without the SCID. Once the SCID was applied to them, less than half qualified for a bipolar disorder diagnosis.

Mark Zimmerman, the Psychiatrist who led the first study, believes that the misdiagnosis may have to do with a psychiatrist's preferred method of treatment.

""We hypothesize that in patients with mood instability, physicians are inclined to diagnose a potentially medication-responsive disorder such as bipolar disorder rather than a disorder such as borderline personality disorder that is less medication-responsive.?

 

[justhere]

as a mental health consumer, this frustrates me. Bipolar in essence indicates moodswings----lows and highs. Borderline personality disorder is a completely different thing, if you ask me. I have been part of support groups for BPD and generally we are quite responsive to talk therapy and CBT. Naturally, many people have a few issues in different columns, so to speak.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

That's the problem: Many individuals with borderline personality disorder can display similar mood swings.