And hear me out, because I know that makes me sound like a terrible person. It’s not that I don’t empathize with their struggles at all, because I do. Life’s hard enough without having BPD or other mental health issues. 

But I can’t stand it when I hear people say “oh yeah, I have BPD” and act like they know their shit when they haven’t been diagnosed. And their “research” is just taking online quizzes, watching TikToks from pwBPD, and reading WebMD pages. I dunno, it just really irks me. 

And don’t take this as me saying I don’t think people should ask questions and do legitimate research. I’m not saying that at all. You have to start somewhere, and asking questions is a good place to start. I have no problem with people who say things like “y’know… I have x, x, x, and x symptoms… and I’m wondering if I might have BPD.” My problem lies with people who immediately jump into saying “oh, yep, I have BPD” without considering that it may be something else. Many of the symptoms of BPD overlap so heavily with other things such as C-PTSD, bipolar disorder, autism, etc., that it can be *extremely* difficult to differentiate them, even for professionals.

It ESPECIALLY bugs me when people try to self-diagnose when they’re 13, 14, and 15 years old. No, you don’t necessarily have BPD, you’re going through puberty. *Every* teen has symptoms of BPD those first few years, which is why in most cases, you won’t be officially diagnosed until you’re 18. Only in very specific circumstances will someone be diagnosed under 18, and even then you won’t be diagnosed if you’re under 16. 

I understand that a professional diagnosis is a luxury that not everyone has access to or can afford. But there’s a HUGE difference between saying “I think I may have BPD” and going around saying “Yeah, I do have BPD.”