Posted by ramsea on November 25, 2003, at 8:30:30
In reply to Re: parasuicidal threats and false reporting » Dinah, posted by Larry Hoover on November 22, 2003, at 11:45:08
Is this a question for everyone or just between you two? If it's meant to be more private, sorry for interrupting. I have known so-called borderline personality disorder diagnosed people, and am sad to say that three of them are no longer with us--while they did have parasuicide incidents, they were actually bent on going for the "real thing" too. BPD has a high successful suicide rate.
Sometimes a BPD person who parasuicides is considered to be practicing for the real thing. Sometimes they don't intend fatality at that point. They are often treated to great social castigation for their parasuicide behavior. Now, as a person who has know BPD diagnosed persons very well, I can agree Larry that it is VERY hard on the family/friend. It tries loved ones patientce and tolerance very deeply.
Like any other severe illness (and my mind believes they are ill, not bad), we can end up just wishing they'd never come into our lives, because it is so hard on us. And then that feeling just makes us feel horribly guilty. So it can be a lose/lose situation. I have tremendous empathy for relatives/friends of a BPD dx person who engages in parasuicidal acts.
It seems some pdocs believe that BPD is actually a form of both PTSD and bipolar II. If that is the case the person who "fakes" may be prepping for the real thing. On the other hand, such a person may have other difficulties. Overly dramatic, theatrical persons might do this, or a very bored, very unsatisfied person. The behavior may have nothing to do with a psychiatric problem.
Of course everyone in this thread is aware of these possibilities. But I am always hooked when people start mentioning borderline PD and a troublesome behavior in the same breath. Especially if the implication is that there is something fakey about the person and rather wickedly manipulative. In MHO BPD is a mistaken label. It covers too much ground. It's too female identified. If there is a problem with rapid cycling mood swings, sounds bipolar to me. If there are flashbacks, etc, of trauma/abuse in background, I agree with those pdocs who look to PTSD. If there's a lot of antisocial behavior going on, as in pretending to die and so forth, it seems we should call it antisocial and not "borderline", as it is possibly more descriptive? I mean, it strikes me as more of an antisocial thing than parasuicide, as a so-called parasuicide act usually involves dangerous, risky begavior that could maim, injure or kill the person even if they didn't want it. This particular incident reminds me of a friend of mine who told everyone she was dying of cancer and kept it up for awhile with dire consequences. Her "diagnosis" is antisocial PD. She was also abused most horrifcally in childhood (documented in court records).
Outside of serious personality disorde or mental illness, I suspect some people are troublesome, stressed out and gameplaying to an extreme and require serious therapy.
poster:ramsea
thread:281008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20031120/msgs/283570.html