How often does BPD get misdiagnosed?

One study cited that almost 40% of people who were diagnosed with BPD were provided with a misdiagnosis of BD at some point in their lifetime in comparison to only 10% of people in the general population receiving a misdiagnosis of BD. The exact reasoning for this high rate of misdiagnosis is debated among researchers.


What is BPD usually misdiagnosed as?

published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, nearly 40% of people with borderline personality disorder have previously been misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder.

How often is BPD misdiagnosed as depression?

Depression, specifically major depressive disorder, is comorbid in 41 to 83 percent of those with BPD. Those with BPD often are misdiagnosed with depression, while BPD goes undetected until much later. BPD is often confused as an affective disorder (depressive or bipolar), but proof is in the treatment.


Is BPD misdiagnosed as did?

Personality disordered patients who have dissociative symptoms and identity disturbances may be misdiagnosed as DID. For example, in the cluster of symptoms in “impairment in identity”, both “unstable self-image” and “dissociative states under stress” are DSM-5 criterion symptoms for borderline personality disorder.

How hard is it to diagnose BPD?

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) can be hard to diagnose because the symptoms of this disorder overlap with many other conditions, such as bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, and even eating disorders.


What It's Like When BPD Is Misdiagnosed as Bipolar Disorder



How do you prove BPD?

To be diagnosed with BPD, you must display at least five of the following symptoms:
  1. viewing relationships in extremes (e.g., everything is either all good or all bad)
  2. challenges controlling anger.
  3. frequent mood changes (i.e., periods of intense anger, depression, or anxiety)
  4. recurrent suicidal ideation.


Why do therapists refuse to treat BPD?

Additionally, relationship instability is a feature of BPD, and clinicians may be wary of patients with whom establishing a therapeutic bond could be difficult. They may also hold the mistaken belief that treatment is ineffective for BPD patients.

What is the most commonly misdiagnosed mental disorder?

“BPD is one of the most commonly misdiagnosed mental health conditions,” according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.


What does mild BPD look like?

Wide mood swings lasting from a few hours to a few days, which can include intense happiness, irritability, shame or anxiety. Ongoing feelings of emptiness. Inappropriate, intense anger, such as frequently losing your temper, being sarcastic or bitter, or having physical fights.

Do people with BPD mimic?

Conclusions: Behavioural mimicry was increased in BPD. However, this effect was less pronounced in those BPD patients who reported the highest levels of loneliness. Our findings emphasize that mimicry is a complex construct and only some of the involved processes are altered in BPD.

What can mimic BPD?

The symptoms of BPD are very broad, and some can be similar to or overlap with other mental health problems, such as:
  • Bipolar disorder.
  • Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD)
  • Depression.
  • Anxiety.
  • Psychosis.
  • Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD)


Why do doctors not diagnose BPD?

Clinicians can be reluctant to make a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (BPD). One reason is that BPD is a complex syndrome with symptoms that overlap many Axis I disorders. This paper will examine interfaces between BPD and depression, between BPD and bipolar disorder, and between BPD and psychoses.

How long does it take to accurately diagnose BPD?

Teenagers may start showing the symptoms of borderline personality disorder, but to be diagnosed they need to have symptoms that are severe enough to persistently interfere with daily functioning for 1 year or longer.

Can anxiety mimic BPD?

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a common condition that is characterized by a host of different challenges and symptoms. One experience that's frequently associated with borderline personality disorder is anxiety; and often people with BPD are also diagnosed with an anxiety disorder as well.


What other disorders overlap with BPD?

BPD typically coexists with depression, anxiety, and substance abuse. Symptoms of these conditions may lead the clinician to miss the diagnosis of personality disorder entirely.

Is BPD on a spectrum?

It is now clear that DSM-IV-defined BPD is a heterogeneous construct that includes patients on the mood disorder spectrum and the impulsivity spectrum (Siever and Davis, 1991), in contrast to the original speculation that these patients might be near neighbors of patients with schizophrenia or other psychoses.

What are lesser known symptoms of BPD?

But, historically, the theory of “quiet BPD” referred to symptoms such as:
  • intense mood swings that you manage to hide from others.
  • suppressing feelings of anger or denying that you feel angry.
  • withdrawing when you're upset.
  • avoiding talking to others who have upset you and cutting them off instead.


Is there a milder version of BPD?

Quiet borderline personality disorder, or quiet BPD, is a classification some psychologists use to describe a subtype of borderline personality disorder (BPD). While many symptoms of BPD can manifest outward (such as aggression toward others), individuals with quiet BPD may direct symptoms like aggression inward.

Do I have hidden BPD?

If you have Quiet BPD, you "act in." You experience the entire gamut of emotions — fear of rejection, mood swings, rage, obsessive emotional attachment, self-doubt, anxiety, etc. However, you do not show your inner turmoil on the outside. Instead of lashing out, you direct the anger, hate, and blame toward yourself.

What is the second most diagnosed mental disorder?

The most common are anxiety disorders major depression and bipolar disorder.


How do you tell if you've been misdiagnosed?

Even more important, you should recognize these five signs that may indicate you received a misdiagnosis.
  1. Your Symptoms Overlap with Multiple Conditions. ...
  2. Your Doctor Didn't Get All Information. ...
  3. You Didn't Receive Proper Testing. ...
  4. Your Second Opinion Doesn't Match the Diagnosis. ...
  5. Your Treatment Is Ineffective.


What are the chances of getting misdiagnosed?

According to a recent study, nearly 12 million outpatient U.S. people are misdiagnosed each year. This is 5% of adults or 1 in 20. According to the Society for the Improvement of Diagnosis in Medicine (SIDM), between 40,000 and 80,000 individuals die each year due to misdiagnoses.

Why is borderline personality disorder so serious?

Borderline personality disorder is a mental illness that severely impacts a person's ability to regulate their emotions. This loss of emotional control can increase impulsivity, affect how a person feels about themselves, and negatively impact their relationships with others.


Why is it so hard to work with BPD?

Effects of BPD symptoms

Criticism by a co-worker or manager, professional detachment, or moodiness can trigger feelings of abandonment or rejection which can lead to inappropriate anger, intense emotions, self-harm, or other impulsive behaviours.

Do you need severe trauma to have BPD?

You might also experience BPD without having any history of traumatic or stressful life events. Or you might have had other types of difficult experiences. If you already experience some of these difficulties, then experiencing stress or trauma as an adult could make things worse.