Re: Anyone else have a BP who is delusional?

[Guest guest]

Although one of the symptoms/traits/behaviors of bpd is " Transient,

stress-related paranoid ideation (thoughts/beliefs), delusions or severe

dissociative symptoms " the key point is that its *transient* or short-lived, and

related to a stressor.

My nada, for example, apparently finds air travel stressful and the last three

times I've been with her during and after long-distance air travel she has had

transient paranoid delusions or hysterical crying jags. Sister has noted it

also, more recently, that our bpd/npd mom did not react well to long-distance

air travel; she had a mini rage-tantrum. (Possibly the problem is due to being

under-oxygenated, which my nada has problems with already. Lack of oxygen to the

brain affects cognitive ability and emotional lability.)

But if your bpd mom is having paranoid thoughts and delusions rather often (she

feels paranoid, but then later realizes her fears are not based on something

real, off and on, frequently) or if she has a " fixed " or unwavering paranoid

belief that is false (such as, your husband is trying to do her in, and she

believes this all the time), then in my opinion that is not the " transient "

psychosis of bpd and your mother needs to be evaluated.

I'm no psychologist, but there could be any number of reasons that your nada is

having paranoid delusions, such as having a bad reaction to certain meds/med

combos, or schizophrenia, or senile dementia, to name a few.

Only a medical doctor: a psychiatrist, can determine what is causing her to be

delusional and give her the right treatment for it.

-Annie

>

> My nada has become delusional in the last few years, believe someone is trying

to kill her and make her suffer. She believes people break in to her alarm

secured home and move things around to confuse her. She believes they pump

poisonous gasses into her car, home and other public places she goes. She also

has physical delusions feeling as though " electrical currents " are being sent

through her.

>

> Does anyone else know of a connection between BPD and delusions?

>

> Extra hard this year as she seemed settled on believing my life partner is the

one doing all this to her.

>

[Guest guest]

Hi,

While I can't say that my Nada (NC for three years now) is delusional, she is

certainly paranoid. Believing everyone is out to get her, that people are

manipulating her, and that we, my wife and I, want to get rid of her.

But, these behaviours, I believe, are par for the course, for a BPD. And, oh,

yeah, the other one, i.e. my wife, is the one to blame for all of these paranoid

delusions. But, you could easily replace my spouse, with my father, my brother,

myself, or the President of the United States. It's always someone else's fault,

or someone else is to blame.

Of course, a lot of this is also self-projecting. Something BPDs, or patients of

other (even mild mental illnesses or dysfunctions and even rational actors)

engage in. Much of this is attention-seeking, in my experience.

It's easier said than done, but it may best to seek help, if you're concerned

and if she is willing, or simply ignore through the creation of boundaries.

Good luck.

>

> My nada has become delusional in the last few years, believe someone is trying

to kill her and make her suffer. She believes people break in to her alarm

secured home and move things around to confuse her. She believes they pump

poisonous gasses into her car, home and other public places she goes. She also

has physical delusions feeling as though " electrical currents " are being sent

through her.

>

> Does anyone else know of a connection between BPD and delusions?

>

> Extra hard this year as she seemed settled on believing my life partner is the

one doing all this to her.

>

[Guest guest]

Hi again,

I also wanted to add that, in my experience, my nada will say and do ANYTHING to

get attention, including maintaining the charade of severe physical illnesses

for more than two decades, e.g. fake symptoms, doctor visits, medications.

Once she was " found out " she admitted, in a moment of lucidity she lied to get

attention, but has since said they were " misdiagnoses " .

Again, good luck.

W.

> >

> > My nada has become delusional in the last few years, believe someone is

trying to kill her and make her suffer. She believes people break in to her

alarm secured home and move things around to confuse her. She believes they

pump poisonous gasses into her car, home and other public places she goes. She

also has physical delusions feeling as though " electrical currents " are being

sent through her.

> >

> > Does anyone else know of a connection between BPD and delusions?

> >

> > Extra hard this year as she seemed settled on believing my life partner is

the one doing all this to her.

> >

>

[Guest guest]

My nada is incredibly paranoid and delusional. She has been all my life at

least, and has had episodes through her life where is has gotten very much worse

for a couple of years, then subsides to her usual craziness. As she is getting

older she is getting worse - she isnt making the effort to hide it anymore.

>

> My nada has become delusional in the last few years, believe someone is trying

to kill her and make her suffer. She believes people break in to her alarm

secured home and move things around to confuse her. She believes they pump

poisonous gasses into her car, home and other public places she goes. She also

has physical delusions feeling as though " electrical currents " are being sent

through her.

>

> Does anyone else know of a connection between BPD and delusions?

>

> Extra hard this year as she seemed settled on believing my life partner is the

one doing all this to her.

>

[Guest guest]

My nada is incredibly paranoid and delusional. She has been all my life at

least, and has had episodes through her life where is has gotten very much worse

for a couple of years, then subsides to her usual craziness. As she is getting

older she is getting worse - she isnt making the effort to hide it anymore.

>

> My nada has become delusional in the last few years, believe someone is trying

to kill her and make her suffer. She believes people break in to her alarm

secured home and move things around to confuse her. She believes they pump

poisonous gasses into her car, home and other public places she goes. She also

has physical delusions feeling as though " electrical currents " are being sent

through her.

>

> Does anyone else know of a connection between BPD and delusions?

>

> Extra hard this year as she seemed settled on believing my life partner is the

one doing all this to her.

>

[Guest guest]

I'm going to say it again: EERIE. YES. My mother believes that Fada (they've

been divorced for 30 years) stalks her and breaks into her house and steals

things. Truth is, he has no idea where she lives and doesn't care if he never

has to see her or speak to her ever again. For YEARS no matter where she's lived

there's always been some nemesis who breaks in and steals things or moves them

around. It's usually a landlord or a friend who she suddenly deems an enemy or a

cleaning lady or sometimes me. (Which is laughable. I have absolutely no desire

to posess *any* of her shit.) She's put hasps and padlocks on several of her

cabinets and even her FRONT DOOR. She also screwed heavy metal screens over her

windows.

But I'm pretty sure that this is mostly (if not all) due to BPD and not an aging

issue like alzheimer's. As I said, it's been going on for years, and she always

zeros in on certain people.

[Guest guest]

I'm going to say it again: EERIE. YES. My mother believes that Fada (they've

been divorced for 30 years) stalks her and breaks into her house and steals

things. Truth is, he has no idea where she lives and doesn't care if he never

has to see her or speak to her ever again. For YEARS no matter where she's lived

there's always been some nemesis who breaks in and steals things or moves them

around. It's usually a landlord or a friend who she suddenly deems an enemy or a

cleaning lady or sometimes me. (Which is laughable. I have absolutely no desire

to posess *any* of her shit.) She's put hasps and padlocks on several of her

cabinets and even her FRONT DOOR. She also screwed heavy metal screens over her

windows.

But I'm pretty sure that this is mostly (if not all) due to BPD and not an aging

issue like alzheimer's. As I said, it's been going on for years, and she always

zeros in on certain people.

[Guest guest]

Thanks everyone for your responses.

In short, these appear not to be transient. They have been consistent for at

least 2 years probably more, though the intensity varies.

She has finally sought help from a psychiatrist which very reassuring for me.

She still says she is not delusional though and goes between thinking her

symptoms are biologically related and just thinking that the " abuse " of whom

ever is trying to kill her, is " driving her crazy " .

It's interesting to ponder if it all could be a show or cry for attention. I

have considered that, but usually when she manipulating in that way I have a

sense of it. Like it tastes different somehow. Sometimes she does use this

experience to try to manipulate me (come see her, let her see my son, take care

of her etc). In general she does not like to talk to me about the symptoms as

she knows they sound crazy. When she has I have a pretty good sense of how

terrifying it is for her.

She is older (over 60) but has had neuropsych testing which shows no dimentia or

alzheimer's. So not sure how the aging might play a part. Does seem strange she

got this far without these strong delusions. All my life she has had the milder

" delusions " of always believing the maid took the neclace she cant find or that

the taxi driver took the long way intentionally, being paranoid about locking

the door and checking it, the waiter seated us in a bad spot because we're

women, etc etc. But that is very different than the current situation.

As far as I know she was taking no medication prior to the delusions begining.

She hates meds of all kinds and even now has refused to take the ones the

psychiatrist is prescribing off and on.

So, the great news is she is getting help. But it seems to be going very

slowly. Also I worry she is not telling the whole truth and manipulating the

psychiatrist as well. Luckily she has allowed me to speak to the pscyh and

neuropsych both. I told them as much as I could including my guess of BPD.

So I guess we'll see. I realize I may never know the diagnosis they come up

with. Maybe that's ok, so long as she gets some help/relief/ regained quality

of life.

Thanks everyone,

worldwoman

> >

> > My nada has become delusional in the last few years, believe someone is

trying to kill her and make her suffer. She believes people break in to her

alarm secured home and move things around to confuse her. She believes they

pump poisonous gasses into her car, home and other public places she goes. She

also has physical delusions feeling as though " electrical currents " are being

sent through her.

> >

> > Does anyone else know of a connection between BPD and delusions?

> >

> > Extra hard this year as she seemed settled on believing my life partner is

the one doing all this to her.

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks everyone for your responses.

In short, these appear not to be transient. They have been consistent for at

least 2 years probably more, though the intensity varies.

She has finally sought help from a psychiatrist which very reassuring for me.

She still says she is not delusional though and goes between thinking her

symptoms are biologically related and just thinking that the " abuse " of whom

ever is trying to kill her, is " driving her crazy " .

It's interesting to ponder if it all could be a show or cry for attention. I

have considered that, but usually when she manipulating in that way I have a

sense of it. Like it tastes different somehow. Sometimes she does use this

experience to try to manipulate me (come see her, let her see my son, take care

of her etc). In general she does not like to talk to me about the symptoms as

she knows they sound crazy. When she has I have a pretty good sense of how

terrifying it is for her.

She is older (over 60) but has had neuropsych testing which shows no dimentia or

alzheimer's. So not sure how the aging might play a part. Does seem strange she

got this far without these strong delusions. All my life she has had the milder

" delusions " of always believing the maid took the neclace she cant find or that

the taxi driver took the long way intentionally, being paranoid about locking

the door and checking it, the waiter seated us in a bad spot because we're

women, etc etc. But that is very different than the current situation.

As far as I know she was taking no medication prior to the delusions begining.

She hates meds of all kinds and even now has refused to take the ones the

psychiatrist is prescribing off and on.

So, the great news is she is getting help. But it seems to be going very

slowly. Also I worry she is not telling the whole truth and manipulating the

psychiatrist as well. Luckily she has allowed me to speak to the pscyh and

neuropsych both. I told them as much as I could including my guess of BPD.

So I guess we'll see. I realize I may never know the diagnosis they come up

with. Maybe that's ok, so long as she gets some help/relief/ regained quality

of life.

Thanks everyone,

worldwoman

> >

> > My nada has become delusional in the last few years, believe someone is

trying to kill her and make her suffer. She believes people break in to her

alarm secured home and move things around to confuse her. She believes they

pump poisonous gasses into her car, home and other public places she goes. She

also has physical delusions feeling as though " electrical currents " are being

sent through her.

> >

> > Does anyone else know of a connection between BPD and delusions?

> >

> > Extra hard this year as she seemed settled on believing my life partner is

the one doing all this to her.

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Wow, just read this one. Thank you so much for your post! That is amazing to

hear the similarities!!! My mom also started by thinking it was the landlord.

Has mom described any physical delusions like being " zapped " or smelling

poisons??

>

> I'm going to say it again: EERIE. YES. My mother believes that Fada (they've

been divorced for 30 years) stalks her and breaks into her house and steals

things. Truth is, he has no idea where she lives and doesn't care if he never

has to see her or speak to her ever again. For YEARS no matter where she's lived

there's always been some nemesis who breaks in and steals things or moves them

around. It's usually a landlord or a friend who she suddenly deems an enemy or a

cleaning lady or sometimes me. (Which is laughable. I have absolutely no desire

to posess *any* of her shit.) She's put hasps and padlocks on several of her

cabinets and even her FRONT DOOR. She also screwed heavy metal screens over her

windows.

>

> But I'm pretty sure that this is mostly (if not all) due to BPD and not an

aging issue like alzheimer's. As I said, it's been going on for years, and she

always zeros in on certain people.

>

[Guest guest]

Wow, just read this one. Thank you so much for your post! That is amazing to

hear the similarities!!! My mom also started by thinking it was the landlord.

Has mom described any physical delusions like being " zapped " or smelling

poisons??

>

> I'm going to say it again: EERIE. YES. My mother believes that Fada (they've

been divorced for 30 years) stalks her and breaks into her house and steals

things. Truth is, he has no idea where she lives and doesn't care if he never

has to see her or speak to her ever again. For YEARS no matter where she's lived

there's always been some nemesis who breaks in and steals things or moves them

around. It's usually a landlord or a friend who she suddenly deems an enemy or a

cleaning lady or sometimes me. (Which is laughable. I have absolutely no desire

to posess *any* of her shit.) She's put hasps and padlocks on several of her

cabinets and even her FRONT DOOR. She also screwed heavy metal screens over her

windows.

>

> But I'm pretty sure that this is mostly (if not all) due to BPD and not an

aging issue like alzheimer's. As I said, it's been going on for years, and she

always zeros in on certain people.

>

[Guest guest]

ABSOLUTELY! Worse since she has had numerous mini-strokes, but appears to the

energizer bunny herself or a space alien (not sure which) because she keeps

going and going and going and going. In the process she is driving me nuts.

Not sure how long she's been having her transient strokes but her dietary habits

have been horrible for years (worse since she is older and in poorer health and

of course can hardly stand to make dinner for herself and can't hold much food

down - says she has trouble swallowing = residuals from mini-strokes??) Her

nurse practitioner (she gave up her long time doctor because she was pushing

that nada get more blood tests and drink Ensure as she is SEVERLY underweight

and nada says that only severely underweight people are 'healthy people'). So

this nurse practitioner only seems concerned with her dietary concerns (tested

her blood for deficiencies and found severely lacking in Vitamin D and Vitamin

B-12 which mimics Altzheimer's).

She told me over and over and continues to believe that her step-son-in-law is

'bugging her phone' and 'will only allow certain people to call her and blocks

all others'. She even called the cops about it (unbeknown to me as I live

several states away much to her chagrin). Of course her step-son-in-law is

doing no such thing because no one has that kind of control except Uncle Sam's

CIA and FBI perhaps and they have no interest in nada! The young cop found an

unfilled prescription for a kick butt opium based painkiller and asked her at

the time about the red rubber flower she had in a vase on her kitchen table and

she said that it was for 'my stepfather - her love' but they wouldn't let her

give it to him. He twisted things to make it sound like she thought he was

alive and he is dead but what she meant was 'they' at the graveyard would not

allow artificial flowers. I had at that time a terrible time convincing the

Elderly Abuse and Neglect social worker that she was not looney tunes and did

NOT need to be put in a nursing home. She obviously had her moments of insanity

but she IS BPD and has always had them.

Oh yes, nada is delusional alright but now it is more about what I 'did' or

'didn't do' as she makes up her own reality to suit her purposes. I am

constantly finding myself defending myself from some outrageous accusation.

[Guest guest]

ABSOLUTELY! Worse since she has had numerous mini-strokes, but appears to the

energizer bunny herself or a space alien (not sure which) because she keeps

going and going and going and going. In the process she is driving me nuts.

Not sure how long she's been having her transient strokes but her dietary habits

have been horrible for years (worse since she is older and in poorer health and

of course can hardly stand to make dinner for herself and can't hold much food

down - says she has trouble swallowing = residuals from mini-strokes??) Her

nurse practitioner (she gave up her long time doctor because she was pushing

that nada get more blood tests and drink Ensure as she is SEVERLY underweight

and nada says that only severely underweight people are 'healthy people'). So

this nurse practitioner only seems concerned with her dietary concerns (tested

her blood for deficiencies and found severely lacking in Vitamin D and Vitamin

B-12 which mimics Altzheimer's).

She told me over and over and continues to believe that her step-son-in-law is

'bugging her phone' and 'will only allow certain people to call her and blocks

all others'. She even called the cops about it (unbeknown to me as I live

several states away much to her chagrin). Of course her step-son-in-law is

doing no such thing because no one has that kind of control except Uncle Sam's

CIA and FBI perhaps and they have no interest in nada! The young cop found an

unfilled prescription for a kick butt opium based painkiller and asked her at

the time about the red rubber flower she had in a vase on her kitchen table and

she said that it was for 'my stepfather - her love' but they wouldn't let her

give it to him. He twisted things to make it sound like she thought he was

alive and he is dead but what she meant was 'they' at the graveyard would not

allow artificial flowers. I had at that time a terrible time convincing the

Elderly Abuse and Neglect social worker that she was not looney tunes and did

NOT need to be put in a nursing home. She obviously had her moments of insanity

but she IS BPD and has always had them.

Oh yes, nada is delusional alright but now it is more about what I 'did' or

'didn't do' as she makes up her own reality to suit her purposes. I am

constantly finding myself defending myself from some outrageous accusation.

[Guest guest]

Well, my mom is a hermit/waif who deemed herself " sick " 20 years ago and just

shut herself up in her house and quit working, which has been very stressful for

my brother and me. So yeah, she's got a whole host of physical delusions. She

even keeps a list of them in her wallet so she can whip the list out for the

doctor. I think she's up to fifteen or so maladies.

One day, she thought she smelled gas in her house and called the gas company

about it. Because they're required to by law, they had a fire truck, an

ambulance and the gas company sent out. There was, of course, no gas, but Nada

got LOTS of attention, not only from the authorities but the whole neighborhood.

Nada is also very paranoid about someone stealing her identity, which again,

doesn't make any sense because she's dirt poor and has totally ruined her

credit. Not even the most desperate crackhead would want my mother's identity.

I'm not sure what to think about the whole " transient " symptom thing. Like I

said, my mother is always convinced that someone is out to get her, and that's

been going on since I was a small child. Back when she did work, she never kept

a job for longer than a year and a half or so because someone was always out to

ruin her at the office.

I watched my grandmother get alzheimer's and that seems altogether different

from the way my mother acts. My grandmother was pretty much delusional across

the board; my mother's delusions are very specific. She can be quite lucid about

certain things.

> >

> > I'm going to say it again: EERIE. YES. My mother believes that Fada (they've

been divorced for 30 years) stalks her and breaks into her house and steals

things. Truth is, he has no idea where she lives and doesn't care if he never

has to see her or speak to her ever again. For YEARS no matter where she's lived

there's always been some nemesis who breaks in and steals things or moves them

around. It's usually a landlord or a friend who she suddenly deems an enemy or a

cleaning lady or sometimes me. (Which is laughable. I have absolutely no desire

to posess *any* of her shit.) She's put hasps and padlocks on several of her

cabinets and even her FRONT DOOR. She also screwed heavy metal screens over her

windows.

> >

> > But I'm pretty sure that this is mostly (if not all) due to BPD and not an

aging issue like alzheimer's. As I said, it's been going on for years, and she

always zeros in on certain people.

> >

>