Bipolar or BPD? How to Tell the Difference and Get the Right Treatment

Have you ever wondered, "Do I have BPD or Bipolar Disorder?" You're not alone. This is one of the most common and consequential mix-ups in mental health, leading to years of wrong treatments and unnecessary suffering. In this episode, we're cutting through the confusion.

We break down the science and the stories behind Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar Disorder, explaining why they look so similar but are fundamentally different.

Quick note: we had some technical difficulties while recording, so a few parts of the audio aren’t as clear as usual. Thanks for your patience and understanding 🙏

🌱 Have questions, stories, or something you’d like us to cover? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠bpddiariespodcast@gmail.com ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and let’s keep the conversation going.

🎧 Looking for meditations made for emotional regulation, BPD, and more? Check out Empowered Heroes Meditations on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify.

If you’d like more support in your journey toward BPD recovery, Steff offers 1:1 sessions using evidence-based tools from DBT and Mindfulness to help you heal. Email for a free 30-Minute Consultation:

📩 steff@bpdsupport.org or check out the website: www.bpdsupport.org

📚 Referenced Research Includes:

Baratta, L.G., Maibach, H. (eds) The Misdiagnosis Casebook in Clinical Medicine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28296-6_62 https://eprints.worc.ac.uk/12476/

Paris, J., & Black, D. W. (2015). Borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder: what is the difference and why does it matter?. The Journal of nervous and mental disease, 203(1), 3-7. DOI: 10.1097/NMD.0000000000000225

Parker, G., Bayes, A., McClure, G., del Moral, Y. R. R., & Stevenson, J. (2016). Clinical status of comorbid bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry, 209(3), 209–215. doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.115.177998

Phillips, M. L., & Kupfer, D. J. (2013). Bipolar disorder diagnosis: challenges and future directions. The Lancet, 381(9878), 1663-1671.

Ruggero, C. J., Zimmerman, M., Chelminski, I., & Young, D. (2010). Borderline personality disorder and the misdiagnosis of bipolar disorder. Journal of psychiatric research, 44(6), 405-408. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2009.09.011

Skodol, A. E., Gunderson, J. G., Shea, M. T., McGlashan, T. H., Morey, L. C., Sanislow, C. A., ... & Stout, R. L. (2005). The collaborative longitudinal personality disorders study (CLPS): Overview and implications. Journal of personality disorders, 19(5), 487-504. https://doi.org/10.1521/pedi.2005.19.5.487

Tickle, E.V. (2022) Borderline personality disorder among individuals with bipolar disorder: Prevalence, correlates, and experiences of the comorbid diagnosis. PhD thesis, University of Worcester. https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/borderpolar-patients-borderline-personality-disorder-and-bipolar-disorder

Zimmerman, M., & Morgan, T. A. (2013). The relationship between borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder. Dialogues in clinical neuroscience, 15(2), 155-169. https://doi.org/10.31887/DCNS.2013.15.2/mzimmerman

Zimmerman, M.D. (2019). Borderpolar: Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar Disorder. Psychiatric Times, [online] 36(12). Available at: https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/borderpolar-patients-borderline-personality-disorder-and-bipolar-disorder.https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/the-british-journal-of-psychiatry/article/clinical-status-of-comorbid-bipolar-disorder-and-borderline-personality-disorder/B338C67D84E514C87949AEA6885E546E