Data Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 If you are diagnosed or believe you have BPD, at what age did your symptoms first appear? I am interested in comparing my own experiences with those of others. If you also had another condition as a child, you might want to reply below. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galupy Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 i voted 5 - 8 cos that's the age i started self harming Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlasticInsanity Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 9-12. This is when I turned from a quiet little girl to a child who would freak out over nothing, and started many fights with my sister. edit;; btw, good thread. It's neat to see that so far everyone who's voted has experienced symptoms in childhood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordsmithy Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 If you are diagnosed or believe you have BPD, at what age did your symptoms first appear? I am interested in comparing my own experiences with those of others. If you also had another condition as a child, you might want to reply below. Is that symptoms specific to BPD, or anything that could be classed as a MH problem in general for eg. social anxiety? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Data Posted July 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 Is that symptoms specific to BPD, or anything that could be classed as a MH problem in general for eg. social anxiety? Any MH symptoms, although you are encouraged to talk about them here if you have problems other than BPD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules7 Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 I was three, thats when all my problems started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaronviland Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 I voted 9-12, but I believe it was even before that. My memory isn't too well, especially on depakote. The first time something was ever said to me, I was 12 or 13 and my "friend" suggested I see a therapist about depression. Depression turned into "bipolar," but the doctor, a year or two down the road, basically said I wasn't textbook enough to be bipolar. I asked him if it could be rapid-cycling bipolar disorder, and he just laughed. I call him Dr. Pirate and he never took me seriously. I've never been diagnosed with BPD, but all the symptoms fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G1rlInterrupted Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 I said the age of 4 as this is the age I started feeling very different from everyone else and when I started withdrawing. Although I have terrible memories earlier than four... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lily-Bee Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 I voted 5-8 but could be I was younger, one of the things that was a problem is I would have severe panic attacks if I was to go to a childrens bday party (social anxiety) I bassically refused as I was so scared,cried and screamed and if I was nauseous I got so panicked Id shake severely (phobia about throwing up). I also knew at a young age something was wrong with me,I felt very sad didnt understand it ,now I think I was depressed. There are other things cant remember it all. Lily Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starryeyesee Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 I reckon at age 13 although I had some weird symptons (hallucinating, self harm thoughts) before that. starry x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galupy Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 you know what, hearing lily say that just reminded me of a conversation with my mum. my mum's a teacher (3-7) and when i was 3 she used to put me in nursery and i would scream and scream until she took me away. and i hated school too. i'd have crying over getting a question wrong etc. i dont remember any of this, but she assures me it happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malka84 Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 asd and slowed learning dignoses 5 as dyspraxic, got tummy aches from 6 then headaches, finial dignosed depressed when 11, in hospital for 2 years from 14-16 then bpd added at 20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
addy2 Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 I wasn't dx until with BPD until i was 35 that was this year but i was dx with panic disorder, anxiety and argraphobia when i was 18 i seemed to get worse as i got older. They put down to only being able to supress everything for so long and the fact that i was attacked two years agao they said that triggered the BPD of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saharah Blue Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 Around age 14, following trauma. Reading what you wrote addy it makes me wonder when it would have come out, if that traumatic event didn't happen. I wasn't DX'd until I was 35. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaTsEyEs Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 I voted 9-12 as I took an overdose and started to self injure aged 11. But when I was 5 started school I would get very upset crying, clingy, one time I cried so much they got my mum to take me home again. I also wet the bed until I was about 11. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
addy2 Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 Around age 14, following trauma. Reading what you wrote addy it makes me wonder when it would have come out, if that traumatic event didn't happen. I wasn't DX'd until I was 35. I have been in therapy for years but i am very quiet and anxious no one ever knew about my past or my anger issues it was only after the trauma that they realized that therapy wasn't working anxiety kept coming back i have ocd and ptsd and nothing was working, so after doing a questionaire and working with me for months they said i had BPD and traits of other personality disorders it upsets me sometimes that no one discovered before now and that things had to get this bad before they did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saharah Blue Posted July 9, 2011 Report Share Posted July 9, 2011 about 10 years ago I read girl interrupted becasue it was suggested that my younger sister might have BPD during her hospitalization. She ended up having paranoid schizophrenia. While reading the book, I kept thinking but this is exactly how I think. I tried telling my sister that it sounded exactly that way I think, but she dismissed it as said everyone thinks they are crazy when they find out someone they know is. But it turned out I did have BPD after all. For me it was my bf that starting looking into it, he believed it might be possible when he overheard a phone call I was having with someone about a OD and my P-doc at the time dumping me as a patient, when he found out. I just kept OD-ing until I finally got a DX.. After that I stopped OD-ing with some help. I think if it wasn't for that, I would have had years more years of drawn out diagnoses, without getting any closer to the truth. I know what you mean by things having "to get this bad" before it was taken seriously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlylight1 Posted July 9, 2011 Report Share Posted July 9, 2011 i voted 5-8 because i remember feeling very sad, different and withdrawn around 4/5 after events occuring at home. had problems with speech and speech therapy around 7 i think and stopping speaking became more pronounced. hair pulling, self harm, abandoment and obsessive problems around 14 triggered by relationship. trauma at 18 brought everything out, could only cope with it for so long and then a breakdown couple of years later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wonderful Posted July 9, 2011 Report Share Posted July 9, 2011 I put 13 - 15 as this was when things were becoming really noticeable. I think I had problems before then, but they weren't that bad, I know that at least by the age of 6 I was throwing away my food at lunchtime while in school, I didn't want anyone to see me eat, I felt like it was a dicgusting thing to be seen doing and had a NEED to be smaller and lighter than everyone else, this wasn't a problem though because I was. I was quite a sensitive child at school, cried when someone was mean to me, cried when mum and dad were arguing (which was all the time, dad left when I was 7. Me and my sister did go to see him but whenever we did we went "a bit weird" is how my mum describes it, just a bit withdrawn, over sensitive that kind of thing. The last year of priamary school was hard, everyone hated me, I had no friends and was often down. I don't like change, so going to secondary school unsettled me. It was around age 13 I started really disliking myself. I had been fooling around with a guy I knew, and by this point felt like I was just an object. At 14 I quit gymnastics (I'd been going since I was 6) I put on a bit of weight and freaked out, and still had this intense loathing of myself. I was depressed, but no-one noticed untill I was 16, I was raped, a while after I was very, very noticably depressed and my eating was full swing anorexia within a few months, this was also when I developed anxiety issues. For a few years now I have believed I have BPD, I'm 19 now, and have had suspicions since 17, I mentioned these to the pdoc and although didn't dx me, did agree I had it mildly, although I believe it is more severe than they think... as most of my problems appear in the begining... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karenbrambley Posted July 9, 2011 Report Share Posted July 9, 2011 I voted 16 but thinking back i remember my mum wouldnt go to my parents eve i mustve been about 12, i was so distressed and upset. Reading all replies who say from a child scares me as my own child is 11 and struggles a lot with her emotions and her temper she is like a closed book sometimes and others just explodes into rage. She is very quite and withdrawn with everyone apart from myself. Does this sound like how any of you were? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Data Posted July 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2011 I voted 4 years or under. Its difficult to tell really, that was over 30 years ago and my memory is not perfect. I definitely remember having problems in primary school: I was a social recluse and the only person who was always completely on his own in the playground. I desparately wanted a friend but I didn't have the social skills to interact with people. My mum said that when I was in preschool I used to play alone and its on that basis that I made my vote. I've been a bit flexible in my question about co-morbidity. People with BPD often have other problems and its sometimes difficult to tell what is a BPD problem and what is an ED or anxiety or OCD or PTSD problem. I myself am thought to have some autistic traits. Everything that I've read about BPD suggests it starts in the teens. My therapist said "late teens". However, the small sample that we have here suggests an average age of around 10 years old. Indeed, quite a few are earlier so my experiences are not as unusual as I thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaTsEyEs Posted July 9, 2011 Report Share Posted July 9, 2011 I am glad you did this Data it has made interesting data! :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annielou89 Posted July 9, 2011 Report Share Posted July 9, 2011 i put 4 and under because i have never socialised normally, and my mum told me that when i was 2, i used to shout at my dad and get really moody just because he had talked to me. personally think i've always had bpd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manja. Posted July 10, 2011 Report Share Posted July 10, 2011 i was initially going to select '23-25' because that's when i first got psychiatric help and first started identifying myself as mentally unwell. but then i started thinking about how i was self harming when i was 19. and then i thought about how i was really suicidal at 12. and probably lots of other stuff. so honestly i just don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrippleAndStarfish Posted July 10, 2011 Report Share Posted July 10, 2011 I tried to reply to this the other day, typed out a quite a long reply, and then lost it thanks to internet cutting out So will try again now, but attempt to keep it short - My great-grandmother died just before i turned three, and i lost my only friend. I was already being abused by the age of 5, and at school I was in a lot of trouble. The teachers used to call me Matilda, as i would do the day's work from my tray within about half an hour, and then spend the rest of the day sat in the reading area, backed right into a corner and curled under a blanket, head stuck in book after book. I got into trouble as told my classmates (and someone told their mum, who approached my mum, concerned) that I was having sex with the teaching assistant. He must have been about 17, and my mum went up to the school as she was concerned that he was abusing me. That caused a lot of trouble, and i got really bullied for it, even though it was only some weird sort of fantasy that a couple of other kids said too. It was around this time that I got into more trouble - I was very sexually aware (due to the abuse i was experiencing), and had a conversation with a couple of children in the cloakroom about sex and stuff related to it, and i was overheard by a teacher and told that i was rude and dirty and making the information up. No one ever investigated why I had the knowledge that I had. Abuse continued. Also, this was the same time that I got it into my head that I shouldn't eat my lunch, that I don't need it cause it will make me bigger, and i didn't want to get bigger (not weight-wise, but height-wise, i didn't want to grow up). I started hiding the contents of my packed lunches in the girls toilets. I also got into some trouble because I'd somehow stolen a watch that i'd seen lying around (i don't remember how or why it happened, but know there were others involved and they said i should look after it, so i did, and then i got caught). This was when i first became very scared of the police - i was told that they were going to get me and lock me up, and that i would only have a slice of bread and a glass of water a day. I became convinced that the police were going to get me and starve me, which further fuelled my restriction of food, so i could survive because i'd be used to eating small amounts. This was when my eating disorder started, and also when i started being very scared of anyone in authority, believing they were going to "get" me. This later turned to extreme anger and hatred towards them, which got me into trouble in my early teens. Also, was moved a hundred and fifty miles away when my mum married suddenly, so i lost my nana - my closest relative. This was when i kind of hid away in a fantasy world. Moved back about 2 years later, and had a new baby half-brother too. That was when everything got worse - after moving back here. Think i've wrote enough for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.