Q. I already asked the therapist this question but I want as many perspectives as possible...I was diagnosed with bpd about 5 years ago and chose to ignore the diagnosis. I had some problems but things were manageable. Then, all of a sudden my world came crashing down around me. I had everything i wanted...just graduated college, a fiancé, an apartment, a job...i was happy. Then all of a sudden i found myself in the hospital in what i would term a total mental meltdown. My question is...what happened???? Why, when everything was going great did this disorder choose to resurface? Does it go into remission? Does it lie beneath the surface and wait for times of stress? It is now full blown but is being controlled with Effexor, risperdal and trazodone.

A. I do not know why BPD just causes an individual to "blowup" all of a sudden. My bias is that the illness has a cyclic nature, like asthma or seizures or mania, and comes and goes. When it comes, stress is perceived. The stress is part of the illness, and does not cause the illness.