Posted by Sarah S on March 22, 2003, at 12:00:53
In reply to Re: nervous breakdown?, posted by noa on March 22, 2003, at 9:52:48
Well, all of his life he's struggled with depression, low self-esteem, and, at one point, OCD (which caused him to go on Prozac when he was only in middle school). For the past year or so he's been having intense, irrational attacks of fear that he's a horrible person and that I will leave him, but it's only over the past few months (prolly cause of the stress in his life) that those attacks have gotten this bad.
Thanks, Phil, for giving me the borderline disorder info, cause I think that sounds like a possibility. He's always been confused about who he is and tends to derive identity from intense attachments to different pursuits, which he always eventually abandons and is left without an identity again. This causes him to hate himself for being "fickle" and go even deeper into depression and strange behavior. A lot of the symptoms of BPD don't sound like him at all, but it's the closest thing to an accurate diagnosis that I've been able to find.
Thanks for the support, guys. I hope this knowledge will allow me to figure out how to deal with him until his counseling appointment. Just out of curiosity, is anyone else dating someone who has or might have BPD? Is it always this stressful?
poster:Sarah S
thread:211273
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20030310/msgs/211437.html