Q. Most of my life has been associated with personality problems. sometimes voices. delusions ...ect nothing really to nail a diagnosis to. I'm, psychiatrically trained too as a Nurse here in the UK. I had to retire early from work, I was too dysfunctional following a serious head injury. What I've just read about 'Borderline Personality Disorder' seems to sum up most of my life’s mental experiences, as the 'voices' were more marginal than 100% psychotic. I've been through the usual phases of aberrant alcoholism, sexual aberrations etc and every day is a persistent struggle with feelings of non self-worth, depression, uncompleted tasks ...ect the condition doesn’t appear to be recognized here at all. Can I self-treat with a program of approaches, or do I have to look for medically prescribed drugs, my Doctor doesn’t like them for me, as I am seen as intermittently depressed/down nowadays. I am better since stopping work, I do a lot of voluntary stuff with men in prison here via a respected prison support agency plus a lot of human rights work. I can do this all in my own time, some days nothing , as I've no concentration.. sorry to bother you, but this is 1st intelligent break I've read about really. Hope you can write a few words of encouragement. I’m a real fighter for others, not so much myself....Thanks a million.......
A. Auditory hallucinations (hearing voices) are rarely a complication of BPD, but they can be present in an individual with chronic dysphoria.
The individuals I've treated respond dramatically to the combination of Prozac, tegretol and often Risperdal as well - in the right sequence and doses. Many with your profile are doing very, very well - but only while taking medication. Recovery and a successful life is indeed possible, although not easy. You need to learn as much as possible about your condition.
As with everyone, all the diagnoses need to be correctly diagnosed and treated. A common mistake is to view the BPD as the only diagnosis - it rarely is.