Apparently I was diagnosed with BPD without an assessment

[blueming]

I am so very confused, and frankly annoyed right now as this just adds yet another thing to my list of worries. I recently self-referred to talking therapies, specifically because I had my first ever panic attack recently and I wanted to know how to cope with the anxiety of having more. They got back to me after a week or so to tell me that I had been discharged from their service due to being referred to a personality disorder pathway for BPD (or EUPD in the UK). This already shocked me because no mention of personality disorders has ever been mentioned to me by any mental health service. It was so out of the blue, and it really fucked with my head so I searched up all the symptoms for EUPD to check if they applied to me, and they don't. The only ones that do are depression and suicidal thoughts which if that were the criteria we must all have personality disorders lol. I thought since it was only a referral, maybe they had made a mistake? Then I get another letter saying that I already have a diagnosis for a personality disorder which is why they can't accept me.

I have never been assessed for any kind of personality disorder. Apparently they diagnosed me with this in July last year after I was discharged from a hospital due to a suicide attempt. Is it legal to diagnose someone with a mental health disorder without a formal assessment, and not tell them about it for almost a year? Had I not self-referred to therapy, I might've never known about this. I have sent them emails asking who on earth made this diagnosis, why I wasn't told anything about it and I've requested my medical records, but they have not replied to me yet. I want answers but I don't know what to do next.

 

[LimpandNumb]

Oh gosh...
If you are in the UK, you can ask your GP for your patient summary record. Your GP should have copies of letters etc. Have you requested your medical records formally? If not, I advise you do this.
So you've been diagnosed without your knowledge and I assume no treatment attached or support?
That's quite a shock.

 

[blueming]

Oh gosh...
If you are in the UK, you can ask your GP for your patient summary record. Your GP should have copies of letters etc. Have you requested your medical records formally? If not, I advise you do this.
So you've been diagnosed without your knowledge and I assume no treatment attached or support?
That's quite a shock.

I'm from the UK but I'm not in the country at the moment. I have already formally requested my medical records but like I said, they're not getting back to me :/

I'm in shock too - I literally haven't heard from anyone from the mental health services since I was discharged last year and now this, it's ridiculous

 

[LimpandNumb]

I'm from the UK but I'm not in the country at the moment. I have already formally requested my medical records but like I said, they're not getting back to me :/

I'm in shock too - I literally haven't heard from anyone from the mental health services since I was discharged last year and now this, it's ridiculous

Ah ok good. The provider has 30days to provide the records, otherwise you raise a formal complaint.
I'd be peeved shocked, I mean wow. Virtual hugs.
Hopefully your GP can shed some light on the situation.

 

[cosmosis]

I am so very confused, and frankly annoyed right now as this just adds yet another thing to my list of worries. I recently self-referred to talking therapies, specifically because I had my first ever panic attack recently and I wanted to know how to cope with the anxiety of having more. They got back to me after a week or so to tell me that I had been discharged from their service due to being referred to a personality disorder pathway for BPD (or EUPD in the UK). This already shocked me because no mention of personality disorders has ever been mentioned to me by any mental health service. It was so out of the blue, and it really fucked with my head so I searched up all the symptoms for EUPD to check if they applied to me, and they don't. The only ones that do are depression and suicidal thoughts which if that were the criteria we must all have personality disorders lol. I thought since it was only a referral, maybe they had made a mistake? Then I get another letter saying that I already have a diagnosis for a personality disorder which is why they can't accept me.

I have never been assessed for any kind of personality disorder. Apparently they diagnosed me with this in July last year after I was discharged from a hospital due to a suicide attempt. Is it legal to diagnose someone with a mental health disorder without a formal assessment, and not tell them about it for almost a year? Had I not self-referred to therapy, I might've never known about this. I have sent them emails asking who on earth made this diagnosis, why I wasn't told anything about it and I've requested my medical records, but they have not replied to me yet. I want answers but I don't know what to do next.

In my opinion, I really feel that BPD is really overdiagnosed. Which is not suprising considering how it overlaps with so many other "mental health disorders" by definition in the DSM.

For me I was diagnosed with that without an assessment as well, and told the hospital that it is a BS diagnosis, and personally (even though I don't believe in the DSM and these diagnoses), for insurance purposes, I told them that C-PTSD would make more sense.

BPD is literally C-PTSD that is described as a personality disorder if you happen to self harm. Which is BS because self-harming is not a symptom in itself, but a reaction to other symptoms (i.e. Depression, Flashbacks, Mood Disturbances, Trauma, etc.) which are all symptoms of PTSD and C-PTSD.

I don't know if they diagnose people with BPD even if they don't have disabling trauma in their background (I am sure they do, they are charlatans), but if that were the case, I would have to argue that it is probably overlapped with other diagnoses like Depression, Major Depression, Anxiety Disorders, Bipolar Disorder, etc.

That diagnosis can often be stigmatized among people like potential friends, loved ones, and especially the medical and psychiatric system. You get treated a lot different by people because of their ignorance considering this label.

 

[telekon]

Yeah I was diagnosed with bipolar without an assessment. It doesn't mean you have BPD. I actually was just going through events that would normally swing my emotions from happy to sad. I have a psychologist now who does not think I'm bipolar.

Get a second opinion. If you don't want the diagnosis of BPD, work on what gives you the diagnosis.