Suspected Borderline Traits??

[kelsischanging]

The psychiatrist I see give you an after visit summary and it has your diagnosis on it... recently I noticed it has on it that I have Axis II: Suspected Borderline Traits...I don't really understand this...I understand my bipolar disorder. I understand my alcohol abuse and pretty much everything else but not this. I hate these words on my after visit summary. For some reason it makes me feel, "crazier" than any other diagnosis....any clarity anyone can provide would be helpful. Thanks

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Bipolar Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder do have some symptoms in common so when there is uncertainty the usual denotation might be, depending on the individual, something along the lines of

Axis I Bipolar Disorder I (or II); rule out Major Depressive Disorder, Recurrent

or

Axis I Bipolar Disorder I (or II); rule out Schizoaffective Disorder

or

Axis I Bipolar Disorder I (or II)

Axis II Rule out Borderline Personality Disorder

I don't know what that psychiatrist had in mind but it might be along these lines, i.e., "suspected" might simply mean the more common "rule out" which really means "not my best guess or first choice but could be a possibility".

 

[kelsischanging]

Thank you for clarifying...of course I started Googling it and you can basically diagnosis yourself with ANYTHING on Google. Maybe I need to clarify next time I see her, for my own sanity.