BDP & MS Links...

New diagnosis and before diagnosis
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I have been researching after listening to some Audiobooks on BDP and it mentions a direct link with Multiple Sclerosis…

I myself have been diagnosed with BDP within the last 12 months, I have been caring for my Mother who had relapsing/remittent MS for over 15 years and has now become progressive MS and with a heavy heart I had no other choice but to place her in permanent residential care last August in a specialist Disability home as I could not care for her properly/safely in the home environment.

As a result of having to make the decision to place mom away from me in permanent care, I had what I can only describe as a complete mental breakdown as a result of this I was referred to a psychologist who has been monitoring me for the last 12 months and have come up with the diagnosis that I have BDP… Which makes a lot of sense when I look back over the years and certain things that I have done/felt/experienced etc…

I am now concerned from what I have read (actually not read / listened to as I was also first diagnosed with Dyslexia at University) that I may be on the road which leads me to the same fate as the wonderful woman who is my mom… I am also currently becoming what I can only describe as (“do you know what it’s like to go from being very intelligent, to some days not being able to string a sentence together”).

I have mentioned it to my psychologist who has said that I am not showing any symptoms of MS and that they cannot comment…

I wondered if anyone else had, had any experience of this/with this as I am aware that MS isn’t hereditary but BDP is and also gives me a high chance of a pre-disposition to get MS.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated…

Many thanks

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Hi Drewduncanstar,

I’m sorry, I don’t know what BDP means, unless you meant BPD (Bi Polar Disorder)?

If you could clarify your post, hopefully you’ll get some responses.

Mags :slight_smile:

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Sorry, BDP… Borderline Personality Disorder… I have been listening to audiobooks to help recovery and managing the condition and MS keeps cropping up as a linked after effect… I wondered if anyone knew anything about it…

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Hi,

I think one poster here has a diagnosis of BPD as well as MS, but I’ve never thought it was anything other than an unlucky coincidence.

I would be rather suspicious of the resources you are relying on, because, as I understand it, there is no “recovery” from BPD, because it’s not an illness, but part of the way you are. There are, of course, coping strategies.

I do not see how you can have MS as an “after effect” of something that is not an illness in the first place!

I’ve not been diagnosed with it (BPD, that is, not MS), you have - so you will know more about it than me. But as I understand it, there are no physiological differences (physical or chemical) in people with BPD - no changes that could somehow eventually “lead to” MS. MS has a very definite disease process going on inside the body - it has nothing to do with the person’s fundamental personality. People with all personality types - both those defined as “normal”, and those defined as “abnormal” (BPD itself is a controversial diagnosis, as I’m sure you know) can get MS. But as far as I know, there is no correlation between personality type, and likelihood of developing MS.

Patients with MS do score more highly than the general population for things like anxiety and depression. It’s not known whether this is primarily due to actual brain changes, or just to being in the depressing and anxiety-provoking situation of living with a serious and unpredictable illness.

It is possible these symptoms (which can appear in advance of a diagnosis) could be mistaken for features of BPD, which could in turn create the illusion that more people with BPD go on to get MS. It may just be mistaken diagnosis in the first place.

I haven’t done an exhaustive search, especially given the hour, but I can find little support on Google for any link. There are certainly case studies of patients with both, but that is not at all surprising, as you’d expect rates of BPD to be pretty much the same for people with and without MS - so yep - some will have both.

Honestly, I wouldn’t waste time worrying about it. There are many crackpot theories about the origins of MS - if I had a penny for each one, I’d be a rich woman. But BPD is definitely not high up the list of suspects.

Having a first degree relative with MS does slightly increase your lifetime risk, even though it’s not hereditary. But not enough to dwell on, and I would have thought BPD makes even less of a contribution. It’s the first I’ve heard of it making any!

Personally, I would take whatever you find good and useful from the audiobooks, and disregard the rest. I’m not satisfied they are based on reputable science, and you could be causing yourself unnecessary anxiety - which I’m sure, with BPD already, is not good. I don’t believe your diagnosis can somehow “turn into” MS at a later stage - two entirely separate conditions, and not even the same branch of medicine. Sounds like pseudo-science.

Tina

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OK, so I am biased, but I think BPD is close to being a cop-out.
It translates as “yes, there is something wrong with you, but we don’t really know what it is”.

I have a friend who saw a psychiatrist privately (after getting nowhere with the local NHS Mental Health Trust) and came away with a diagnosis of BPD. Now I do have the benefit of knowing this person for over 20 years, but they really have Bi-Polar Disorder, plus an element of depression. Trouble is that in some parts of society, Bi-polar is fashionable, whereas Manic Depressive Illness (as it used to be known) is terrible. Same condition, two different viewpoints.

Quite a few really creative people are Bi-polar - on a high they can produce something really excellent - then they finish it and fall into a low until the creative urge strikes again. My friend was diagnosed in a low.

CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy) can help - at best it could lift you out of the BPD zone - but it is not going to be a “cure”.
Medication can moderate Bi-polar, but it is (again) no cure.

You might find that Mindfullness training will help, but you have to work at it (and it is close to some flavours of CBT).

Just remember that MS is an actual physical condition, not a mental state.

Geoff

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