30 Day Challenge - Day 13

Tuesday 9th September 2014

06:27pm

Day 13:

If you know the criteria of your illness(es) which ones do you think you meet? Or what are your most common symptoms?

NHS Choices states you have to answer yes to five or more of the following for a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder.  Please remember though if you do answer yes to five or more don't panic, it may just fit your life style if you really are worried though please go and speak to your GP for reassurance or support.

• Do you have an intense fear of being left alone which causes you to act in ways that, on reflection, seem out of the ordinary or extreme, such as constantly phoning somebody (but not including self-harming or suicidal behavior)

• Do you have a pattern of intense and unstable relationships with other people that switch between thinking you love that person and they are wonderful to hating that person and thinking they are terrible?

• Do you ever feel you do not have a strong sense of your own self and are unclear about your self-image?

• Do you engage in impulsive activities in two areas that are potentially damaging, such as unsafe sex, drug abuse or reckless spending (but not including self-harming or suicidal behavior)?

• Have you made repeated suicide threats or attempts in your past and engaged in self-harming?

• Do you have severe mood swings, such as feeling intensely depressed, anxious or irritable, which last from a few hours to a few days?

• Do you have long-term feelings of emptiness and loneliness?

• Do you have sudden and intense feelings of anger and aggression, and often find it difficult to control your anger?

• When you find yourself in stressful situations, do you have feelings of paranoia, or do you feel like you are disconnected from the world or from your own body, thoughts and behavior?

 I don't want to go into me personally to much on this, but you can see from reading this how intense BPD can be on a person.  A lot of these also fit in with my eating disorder, but it makes the behaviors which don't link up make sense in my head so much.  Each person with BPD will be affected differently and it's important to remember that.

Anorexia criteria is always been looked at.  Many have the perception that you have to always be skeletal and never eat at all.  This isn't the case.  Weight loss will be noticeable in time but even now with my BMI considered okay.  I still obsess about food, and still have problems struggling with my weight and how I cope with situations can sometimes come over through my behavior with food.  

I hope this makes a bit of sense, I've had a long day with filming!

Rach x