A
female
age
51-59,
anonymous
writes:Hello readers.Can anyone inform me of the main differences and symptoms of Borderline Personality, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Anxiety and Depression. And is it possible to suffer all four disorders at the same time?Thank-you. I hope somebody can help me. Reply to this Question
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Fancy yourself as an agony aunt? Add your answer to this question! A
male
reader, anonymous, writes (19 June 2010): Hi
Hope you're doing better, here are a summary of all the disorders that you have listed, and yes it's possible to suffer from multiple disorders contemporaneously.
1. Anxiety disorder (20-40% heritability), usually a phobia of something specific, e.g. panic attack, intense urge to flee, etc. In one study of 8,000 adults in the U.S., 28% reported having experienced symptoms at some point during their life that met the DSM-IV criteria. In general, due to both personal experience/conditioning and genes, the person is probably reacting to fear, threat, negative events too negatively.
1a. PTSD is a form of anxiety disorder. Intense fear, horror, sense of helplessness. 1/3 of women after rape meet the criteria of PTS. Symptoms: reexperiencing the traumatic event, avoidance of stimuli associated with the event, numbing (sense of estrangement from others or positive emotions), increased arousal (difficulty concentrating, sleeping).
2. Borderline personality disorder (1% prevalence in population, 35% heritability). Abrupt shifts of emotion from passionate idealization to contemptuous anger. 2/3 of the people with BPD will mutilate themselves at some point in their lives. This is probably not something you're suffering from, I'd think.
3. Major depressive disorder (the common cold of mental illness; 16% will experience MDD at some point in their life). The clinical definition is being depressed for at least 2 weeks, symptoms required are changes in sleep, appetite, attention, feelings of worthlessness, suicidality, psychomotor agitation/retardation. Comorbidity of MDD to anxiety disorder is ~66%.
A
female
reader, anonymous, writes (19 June 2010): This is most definitely something to turn to a psychologist or psychiatrist about. Diagnosis is not just about matching up symptoms on a chart. There are also tests that are condcuted, and time that has to pass while the psychologist or psychiatrist observes the person in question. Only then can a tentative diagnosis be made. Even after the tentative diagnosis, it takes time and effort to decide on an appropriate method of treatment: medication, therapy, or both? If medication, what kind and how much is best for the individual? Etc....
So find a trained professional! They are around to help you, and are often much more friendly and caring that they seem from the outside.
All the best :)
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A
female
reader, pancakes rule  +, writes (19 June 2010):
 Hi, There's nothing to stop people with Borderline Personality Disorder getting PTSD. Then people with PTSD will be anxious anyway as part of the PTSD and they may become depressed from having such an amount of problems. So the answer is yes.
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