My GP has informally diagnosed me with BPD due to my hospital admissions and me ticking off every criteria. However, she said that they are hesitant to send me to a psychiatrist as they believe it often does more harm than good (stigma I guess?) and I can get the treatment without the formal diagnosis. I am currently on the waiting list for DBT but I only have an informal diagnosis of BPD, not a formal written one. I feel like a formal written diagnosis would help me to feel validated and understand everything I’ve been feeling for years, but my GP said she won’t refer me to a psychiatrist on the NHS and I can’t afford to pay nearly £400 for someone to just confirm what my GP already said. 

Just wondered if anyone else has had a similar experience in the UK, and if you did get diagnosed, how did you manage? 

Just a side note- I was hesitant to say this on here as I understand that this disorder is not something you can self diagnose and I haven’t had a psych diagnose it, but it was my doctor who told me she thinks I have it and did a mini assessment, I just can’t get an official written diagnosis as that requires a psychiatrist and I guess the NHS won’t pay for that.