“I got diagnosed with BPD a few years ago, and I was always just so confused all the time, and just thought something was wrong, and didn’t know how to deal with it,” Davidson, 27, recalled.
“Then, when somebody finally tells you, the weight of the world feels lifted off your shoulders. You feel so much better.”Like Davidson, it took Close’s sister a long time to figure out what was going on.
She was finally diagnosed with bipolar disorder at age 50. “If she had been diagnosed sooner, it would have made such a big difference in her life,” Close said.
Scientists have not identified one clear cause of BPD, and research suggests that a combination of inherited factors (like a close relative having BPD), neurological factors, and environmental factors (such as childhood trauma) increase a person’s risk for the disorder.