C-PTSD v BPD

[Snookiebookie]

Hi all,   

I'm certain that this had probably been raised before.  It's been said that this disorder is similar to Borderline Personality Disorder.
What's your thoughts on this?

What are the similarities? What are the unique features of each?  Have you been diagnosed as any illness/condition other than C-PTSD?  Are the two conditions treated differently?  Would Dialectal Behavioural Therapy be of any use in C-PTSD?

Many thanks

Snookiebookie

[Blueberry]

There's a brief explanation of the difference between the two here http://www.outofthestorm.website/symptoms/

also here http://www.outofthestorm.website/academic-articles/   which leads you to article 2051-6673- 1-9 here https://bpded.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/2051-6673-1-9?site=bpded.biomedcentral.com  The article is titled: Ford, J. D. & Courtois, C. A. (2014). Complex PTSD, affect dysregulation, and borderline personality disorder. Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation, 1(1), 9.

It's quite long, I haven't read it.

In our Glossary, BPD is defined:
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) – Individuals with CPTSD are often misdiagnosed with BPD. The cluster of symptoms associated with BPD includes: transient dissociation; a feeling of chronic emptiness; intense anger; identity disturbance; impulsivity; self-harming behaviours; and, affective instability. While these overlap with both PTSD and Complex PTSD in the DSM-V, BPD is considered distinct from both based on two additional diagnostic criteria: terror of abandonment or rejection, and alternating idealization and devaluation of others. Further, while the etiology of both PTSD and CPTSD relates solely to trauma, the development of BPD is multi-factored in nature, often stemming from severe attachment insecurity and disorganization, and as a personality disorder extends beyond both PTSD and CPTSD.

There's a 4-page thread here discussing the difference: http://cptsd.org/forum/index.php?topic=3725.0   Maybe you'd like to discuss on that thread, then the whole discussion would be in one place? Just an idea. It's often hard to find old threads on here so imo helpful to have it altogether.

[ah]

Hi Snookiebookie 

There's lots of information in the thread about it that Blueberry mentioned, I think. So I won't rewrite stuff I probably already said there, I just want to say:
This is a question many people wonder about, it seems. Me included, the reason being I was misdiagnosed with BPD when I tried to break free of abuse and the irreparable harm this did is incalculable.
I think cptsd and BPD are very different and therapists who confuse them may be doing an incredibly dangerous thing. Lives can be destroyed by this confusion.

Also, sometimes the behaviors of people with BPD are what seem to cause cptsd in their victims. So for me, as someone who has cptsd as a result of abuse at the hands of a long list of personality disordered people, being mistakenly seen myself as a person with a supposed personality disorder is retraumatizing, victim blaming, painful, gaslighting... all of the above.
Confusing cptsd and BPD may confuse cause and result, and then rather than helping the victim it can end up simply blaming the victim and helping their abusers get away with it yet again.

So yeah, interesting and important question. Discussing it may save some people some extra pain.