Nadja Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Hi all, This is my first time posting. I've suspected that I have BPD and I'm considering seeking treatment. However, I am curious about something that I've seen come up a few times in these threads. I've seen more than a few people write that their therapist was kind enough not to put an official BPD diagnosis on their record, or that certain people were even avoiding treatment so as not to have an official BPD diagnosis. My question for you guys is this: How would having BPD on your record come back to haunt you? Who would ever see it aside from a psychiatrist? If I were admitted to a hospital, I would authorize transfer of my medical records from a primary care physician, but I wouldn't even mention therapy unless I really thought it was medically relevant...and I don't believe that my daddy issues/personality disorder are relevant to an injury, infection, cancer diagnosis, renal failure, etc. Also- I can't imagine that I'd end up in court with anyone trying to discount my character after obtaining psychiatric records. Stranger things have happened, but the odds of me ending up in that situation are low. So what's the danger in having an official BPD diagnosis? Thank you in advance for your responses! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tryp Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Hi, I don't know how it is for other people, but my psychiatric records are separate from my medical records. I don't want it bandied about in my general records because I worry about not being taken seriously by doctors because I have BPD, but I've never had a problem with it being in my psychiatric records. Ironically, the only doc who has ever really treated me badly because of my BPD was a BPD specialist. It probably depends on where you live and what your medical situation is like. I don't tell it to random doctors that I see once or twice, just to be safe, but the docs with whom I've had a longer term relationship have all known and not given me grief about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SashaSue Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 If you're in the US, any chronic health condition, BPD included, can impact your acess to, and/or the expense of, health insurance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tryp Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Ah - I forgot about that complication. Too many years of Canada. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exl2398 Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 If you're in the US, any chronic health condition, BPD included, can impact your acess to, and/or the expense of, health insurance. this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpladybug Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 . Also- I can't imagine that I'd end up in court with anyone trying to discount my character after obtaining psychiatric records. Stranger things have happened, but the odds of me ending up in that situation are low. So what's the danger in having an official BPD diagnosis? Thank you in advance for your responses! You could easily end up in court and have your character discounted. For example, years ago I was in a bad motor vehicle accident. A commercial truck drove into my Honda. I went to court and the attorney for the P & C carrier (Farmer's) went through my gynecological history in great detail. As if a ruptured ovarian cyst caused a head injury? asshole Fortunately I did not have a psychiatric diagnosis yet. (Though I should have....) The attorney's technique back fired as the women on the jury did NOT like his approach. But that is all public record now..... Pre-existing conditions can affect medical insurance, life and disability insurance. Though the laws and regulations to protect consumers are more and more complex. Plus regulations vary from state to state. Rule of thumb - the less in your written records about your psychiatric history the better. Though there might be exceptions to that, such as a severely ill psychotic person who is on disability and medicaid. It doesn not matter as much at that point. Your psychiatric history is in the system by then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notfred Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 If you want isolation of your mental health records, don't claim any mental health related expenses on your insurance. Pay in cash. Not always a workable solution. I pay for the psychiatrist in cash (he does not take insurance) but I have to claim the meds on insurance as my co-pay alone runs $3-5,000 a year. Actual costs for the meds run in the $20,000's a year. I was denied disability insurance due to a depression Dx. Notes from my pdoc did not good. However, if I would of taken disibility when I first started work I could of gotten it. Moral: suck up all the benfiits as soon as possible on getting new employment. Never let your insurance drop between jobs. nf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tamagotchi Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Years ago I used to pay cash for everything and not put it on my insurance. I signed forms to make everything "private." I think it is much better that way, if you can swing it. I wish I had taken out a life insurance and disability policy at that time, but didn't think about it. Now I have too many expenses to do that. My insurance company knows everything. Oh well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 yes, any chronic condition can impact your ability to get insurance of any kind. With all the shit I have now, the only damn people that will cover me and my family for any damn thing are my employers. Heh. Good thing they are federal, and I better not lose my job. Good thing, also, that I like it... Anna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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