Ever been scapegoated with a mental health condition you didn't even have?

https://www.reddit.com/r/CPTSD/comments/1ij2lqx/ever_been_scapegoated_with_a_mental_health/

created by Kiwitime11 on 06/02/2025 at 13:32 UTC

41 upvotes, 19 top-level comments (showing 19)

I was misdiagnosed with borderline personality disorder and my parents take this to their advantage to avoid any sort of accountability for their actions and to continue to gaslight invalidate me whenever i bring up the fact that i am traumatized from their actions or other peoples past actions. whenever i try to cut them off or have reactive abuse they take this as "i hate you, don't leave me, chase me" and "oh she's just being dramatic again." it makes me want to rip my hair out at times. saying BPD is something i was born with, etc. hope this makes sense as i am in the hospital currently on pain pills lmao.

Comments

Comment by Adiantum-Veneris at 06/02/2025 at 13:52 UTC

20 upvotes, 1 direct replies

My parents insisted at one point that my (rather obvious and surprising to absolutely no one else) transness must be a result of:

1. Schizophrenia

2. Brain tumor

3. Traumatic brain damage

4. Drug induced psychosis (...I never used any)

5. All of the above.

Made more ridiculous by the fact both of them are in medical professions.

Comment by Major-Pen-6651 at 06/02/2025 at 14:03 UTC

16 upvotes, 1 direct replies

I've been accused of having bipolar disorder. I don't have it.

Comment by TopazFlame at 06/02/2025 at 14:46 UTC

3 upvotes, 1 direct replies

That literally makes no sense though because even if that diagnosis was correct... "*Childhood trauma and early life adversity play a key role in the development of BPD*."

Its the same for Narcissism, Anti-Social Personality Disorder, DID etc. You think, personality is developed during childhood. If there's a challenge within your personality that's causing as much harm to you like BPD can - it's likely the result of trauma caused when your personality was developing...

Gaslighters will literally always gaslight you, there's no point arguing with it. I Learnt recently that it's better to simply say "We will always have a disagreement about that" and then set your boundary, that takes their gaslighting power away because you've shut down their option to manipulate you into thinking they're in the right forever.

Comment by Low-Huckleberry-3555 at 06/02/2025 at 14:14 UTC

3 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Bipolar, depression, anxiety disorder, some sort of personality disorder and a few others I have forgotten

Comment by Routine-Bathroom-231 at 06/02/2025 at 14:48 UTC

2 upvotes, 0 direct replies

absolutely. I was accused of being a sociopath and psychopath who harms people for fun, because I was misdiagnosed with BPD and it’s, quote, “basically the same”.

Comment by Tricky_Jellyfish9810 at 06/02/2025 at 15:19 UTC

2 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Oh boi yes. My mum pressures me for 2 years now to get an Autism diagnosis because:

- I hate social Contact

- As a kid I used to be super weird (and oddly hypersexual starting from age 4/5)

- I used to be in my "own world" a lot. And I could do stuff for hours on end (primarily drawing or playing with dolls.

- I selfharmed (starting from age 3)

There were more stuff she pointed out and I told her "Have you ever considered that I was Abused as a kid? (all I remember was the domestic violence at home + the CSA later at life from age 11-13)

She denies it and gets super furious whenever I mention this..which means there must be a certain truth to my words. I also told her "If it's true that I have Autism, I insist for you to get tested as well!

I had a very similar issue with a therapist who insisted that I had BPD because I still had issues with self-harming in adulthood. Turns out at a later diagnosis, that it was actually PTSD all along!

Comment by HeavyAssist at 06/02/2025 at 15:34 UTC

2 upvotes, 0 direct replies

They treated me for Bipolar psychosis for two years when I was experiencing DPDR and dissociation from a panic attack. I am still tapering off Seroquel.They gave me antipsychotics and would not believe me about the events that triggered the panic attacks even though I had camera footage of the home invasion, because the person who took me to hospital said that I was paranoid. I am just hoping that I can recover from this.

Comment by ChanceInternal2 at 06/02/2025 at 15:59 UTC

2 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Yes, I have also been misdiagnosed with bpd and had issues with my parents and a back stabbing ”best friend” due to that. Let’s just say tactics used to deal with people with bpd, narcissism, or any other cluster b personality disorder do not work very well when the person does not have that disorder. I have also been accused of having ocd by my parents when it has been confirmed via testing several times that I do not have ocd. My parents also like to tell everybody that I am a hoarder just because I have possessions and am disorganized.

Comment by Cool_Wealth969 at 06/02/2025 at 16:23 UTC

2 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Bi-polar don't have it, felt horrible on all the medication.

Comment by slowly-rotting-dying at 06/02/2025 at 17:17 UTC

2 upvotes, 0 direct replies

my mom wrote an actual article about me having NPD when i was S E V E N . it was absolutely ridiculous

Comment by buttbeanchilli at 06/02/2025 at 17:28 UTC

2 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Yes! I was misdiagnosed with BPD as a teenager and my reputation in my family never recovered.

They all witnessed at least some of the abuse I faced, and 1/2 of the family have shared a house with my nuclear family at one point. Everyone knows I was abused badly, but somehow that BPD misdiagnosis as a teenager means I'm just dramatic and need to forgive in order to heal. (Reality is when I stopped trying to forgive things got easier for me, and I'm at a point now where flashbacks aren't a daily or even weekly thing. I don't need a relationship with my abusers to be happy or to heal.)

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1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

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Comment by DudeCrabb at 06/02/2025 at 16:20 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Bipolar but I’ve never exhibited symptoms to this day. I’ve been cleared by many therapists, psychiatrists. For a long time I asked for the opinion of any professional I spoke to at my appointments. My sister would plot to send me to jail which meant attacking me and then calling 911 and saying I did it all. Which worked. Luckily I was under 18 so jail wasn’t the only option. Awful. Meant I had to go to the psych ward instead, that place was fucking bleak.

Comment by United_Cicada_4158 at 06/02/2025 at 16:28 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Yes, it seems to be a very effective tool that is easily deployed by covert narcissists, in my experience.

Comment by Creepy_Purchase8348 at 06/02/2025 at 16:31 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

My father tried to convince me I had a sex and love addiction because the only thing I could do to make him understand I needed a semester off from school (after telling him I was actively suicidal and self harming) was that I was having unprotected sex with strangers. 5 years ago my mom told me it was my fault for inviting a stranger over and being raped so she went along with him trying to diagnose me and send me away to a sex addiction program

Comment by FunVolume6609 at 06/02/2025 at 16:34 UTC*

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

I've often had parents doubt things I've seen or heard as just being in my head despite the fact I've literally never had any type of hallucination before. They come around once they see it too but the way they initially doubt is hurtful.

Comment by Similar-Ad-6862 at 06/02/2025 at 17:05 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Yes.

Comment by goldfish_boots at 06/02/2025 at 17:17 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

I’ve been accused of having a stress disorder that’s so intense I wouldn’t be able to make my own decisions or live on my own. Turns out, the longer I’m away from my mother, the better I get with stress. Also schizophrenia. I’m honestly not sure where that one came from. It just kind of popped up one day and then she never mentioned it again

Comment by SashaHomichok at 06/02/2025 at 17:46 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Yes. I was often accused of having an eating disorder and over exercising while I just had to wait in line in the gym a lot and being slow at working out, and just wanting to drink water during meals.