Borderline Personality?

[LaLa]

Can you diagnose a minor with a boderline personality? Recently i've had severe depressive symptoms and have many of the symptoms of the disorder.... i read that therapists don't usually diagnose children with the disorder because they think it will affect their recovery. i'm already on zoloft... should i bring it up to my psychologist or my psychaitrist? i'm not sure i don't really trust them.... is their even a point? does anyone have the disorder? what would they do?

[Sapphire]

You are right in saying that personality disorders are very rarely diagnosed in minors. The main reason for this tends to be the belief that our personalities are still developing throughout our teenage years.

Last year I was diagnosed as developing this disorder. Part of me wishes that I had never been told. It has felt like I've been given a life sentence. I felt as if I was being told that I truly am broken and that there is a very slim chance of me being "fixed" again.

May I ask how old you are?
Why don't you really trust your psychiatrist?
They are there to try to help you. I would advise being honest about your concerns. The more open you are about what you have difficulties with etc, the better they can help you.

Lying or omitting information will only make it more difficult for them to actually help you. It landed me with a misdiagnosis because I wasn't comfortable talking about a couple of major things that I've been through. It really is worth biting the bullet and opening up.

[byee]

Personality disorders cannot be diagnosed until age 18. Prior to that, many therapists use a 'shorthand' diagnosis to communicate certain (emerging)personality characteristics, referring to them as 'features'.

A diagnosis is really nothing more than a mutually agreed upon set of characteristics by professionals to accurately and quickly convey info, usually btw'n themselves. It's not meant to stigmatize, traumatize, or otherwise hurt or offend.

If you're conserned you might have some clinical syndrome, rather than diagnose it yourself, you should talk with your therapist about it, and what it means.

[LaLa]

i'm only sixteen....

i dunno why i don't trust my psychologist or my psychiatrist i just have a huge issue with trusting people... so i mean i just met them a like the day after christmas or something like that...

maybe i should just get over myself and learn to trust them....

thanks!

[byee]

Well, trust takes time, it develops slowly as you get to know someone, and they, you. Therapy is a really personal thing, it involves unfolding yourself to someone new, the *stuff* you talk about is most often very personal and uncomfortable. So, the fact that you're not trusting them after basically just meeting them so recently isn't that unusual. Talk with them about this, though. It might be important to discuss and explore why it's hard for you, maybe it's part of the reason you're there in the first place.

[LaLa]

thanks :) that makes sense!