The cat is out of the bag... but it just got heavier.

I told my sister (the first person I told inmy family) about my bipolar disorder type 2.

Here is what she said:

She asked whether I saw a psychiatrist or not.
I said yes,
And she said that perhaps the psychiatrists saw what they knew only. Perhaps there is something more to it. Something psychological like high potential intelligent (a type of hypersensitive personality). And perfectionnism. And the moment you were not perfect your mood went down. (And yet, I'm unhealthily a perfectionnist). So she said I'm having acute anxiety with perfectionnism.

She said it might be borderline personality disorder.
The experiences she gave is that there were people she read about who were diagnosed bipolar for years but turned out to have borderline personality.
Another who was diagnosed as well and after talk therapy they discovered he was not...etc.
Ps: I didn't tell her I'm taking any meds so she was expressing herself freely.

She is asking me to rethink the diagnosis.

I think she is right.

But it was not what I expected.

I'm not ready to challenge everything I struggled to accept the past 09 months.
I am accepting I'm about to be depressed and I'm getting ready for that. But now... I'm not ready to get through that emotional wringer anymore.

Pinkstarburst · F

First, unless your sister is a professional, I would not let her sway or diagnose you. No offense to her, but she is simply not qualified by reading about some people.

Next, I would encourage to not put a label on your brain. There are many meds and cocktails of them that “say” they are for one thing but have positive results for another.

The first time I dropped my basket, my father was absolutely opposed to me taking meds while my mother was anti-therapy. My doctor told them both to shut up and get over themselves because I needed both. And he was right.

I encourage you to find a good, honest therapist and also a good, honest psychiatrist. Listen to your body and do what needs to be done because it’s right for your wellness, not someone else’s.

JonLosAngeles66 · M

You can be Bipolar and Borderline. Perfectionism can be OCD. It sounds like you're very early in diagnoses and treatment. A psychiatrist probably knows more about this than your sister. A good balance in figuring out the best treatment is getting a psychologist you feel comfortable with as well. The psychiatrist knows the brain chemistry and PhD knows the behaviors and treatment beyond medicinal. In most cases getting to a calmer state via medicine is necessary to start any meaningful treatment

Good luck!

LordBarbossa · 36-40, T

Not a therapist, but from what I've heard and read the difference is:
Borderline: rapid changes in ones mood/emotions (often multiple times a day)
Bipolar: prolonged bursts of very high energy (manic episodes) and depression (not at the same time) with periods of feeling normal between. Those bursts can last anything from a few hours to multiple weeks.

Again, not a therapist. And neither is your sister I assume.
Your therapist is more than likely well versed with both types of disorder and knows how to distinguish them.