Pseudo hallucination in BPD

So, I requested a copy of my hospital records a while back, and they just arrived now.

There is a lot of reference to “pseudo psychosis in the context of Cluster B personality”

I’m going to ask my pdoc about it on the 6th, but I was wondering if anyone has any experience with this? Or what the heck a “pseudo hallucination” is?

I’ve been Googling it and not having much luck getting answers. I know that diagnoses can change over time, but this is coming as a bit of a shock

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Stuff like this makes me very reticent to see my records. In fact I never, ever want to see my records

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I’ve heard the term before, referencing hallucinations that are internal (as opposed to ones heard with your ears) and that the patient is aware are not real.

So like, a true hallucination in dx terms, would involve physically hearing it and/or thinking the hallucination was coming from an outside source (thoughts being implanted in your head, etc). A pseudo-hallucination is supposedly not as difficult to treat, because the person understands and aknowledges that the hallucination is simply their brain misfiring.

But I am not a doctor so I might be understanding it wrong.

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Ahah ignorance is bliss and all that? I sort of agree, now :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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Hmmm that makes sense, I suppose

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I would still dispute it as a diagnosis, tho. I don’t come anywhere near checking 5 of the 9 boxes + no significant history of trauma

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In my experience, hospitals diagnose anyone with a vagina with BPD while in the psych ward. I wouldn’t take it too seriously.

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I have BPD on my hospital record because I had a doctor say my iq is too high for schizophrenia. Shocking no one, he was a terrible doctor. But it’s been on my record for fifteen years now and there’s not much I can do about it. I thought I had finally gotten away from it when I moved to Oregon, but now I’m back and was reminded it’s there again. :-1:

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BPD is such an overused and outdated diagnosis anyways. I mean, one of the diagnostic criteria is a “fluid expression of identity” which basically means every single trans person ever has BPD because we have to change our gender expression based on who we are out to and how safe we feel being our authentic selves.

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Oh that’s a really good point I didn’t even think of that. Gross :nauseated_face:

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I had one psychiatrist tell me my fluidity in gender expression is from bpd. Even tho i dont have bpd and he saw me for two sessions and conlcuded i had bpd. My last hospital stay they diagnosed me w bpd too but my therapist and psychiatrist disagree.

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Dude that’s messed UP

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Had a therapist try DBT on me but I don’t think I got diagnosed with BPD. My psychiatrist or therapist/not sure which one said that BPD is over-used and often prejudiced towards women. My mom was diagnosed with BPD and depression before they found out she had schizophrenia. If they had gotten the diagnosis right and put her on the right medications it would’ve probably made a complete difference in our lives. But you can’t re-write the past. I’m just happy I still have my mom and that she’s well and happy again.

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I’m glad to hear that :slight_smile:

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As I’ve understood it, the fluid expression of identity refers to having problems figuring out how one wants to present, and often changing looks and styles to try and find an identity.
One could argue that’s what most trans folks end up doing, but it seems to me like trans folks are kinda just trying out looks until they find one they like, while some bpd folks desperately keep changing to find some sort of identity.

My psych thinks I have bpd, and after doing extensive reading about it, I can’t say I disagree.

And btw some of you mentioned trauma, it is entirely possible to have bpd without having had severe trauma.

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@Miika I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to minimize or dismiss your diagnosis. A lot of people very close to me have BPD (including my boyfriend) and I know how important it is to have a correct diagnosis.

I guess, just seeing it written down, about me, sort of threw me for a loop. Like, it feels sort of dismissive and invalidating of my experiences

I get that. I was misdiagnosed with adhd for several years.
It was what every norwegian kid got in the 00’s if they were easily distracted or didn’t quite fit in.
I’ve alwats felt like they just rushed to slap the first diagnosis they could think of on me, instead of bothering to find out what was really going on.

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Yeah, that’s exactly how I’m feeling. I’m sorry you had to go through that too

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That certainly sounds like my case. Not sure if it is useful to the discussion. Still I figured I would share my experiences that are similar. There is no formal evaluation involved in my case however.

I was “caught” explaining my hallucinations in such a manner that betrayed that I understand that they are not real. I always realised this myself however, without any experiments in the first place. I even stated so plainly before. Details: Amateur therapy proved surprisingly efficient

I did also have hallucinations that I could not designate as such, until weeks or months later. I described some notable examples here: I'm scared a little - #8 by vladyslavbond

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I think that pdocs diagnose all young and youngish women with bpd in order to protect themselves from lawsuits.

I myself was also diagnosed bpd in my younger years. I don’t see that label in my record as of late.

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