emotional dysregulation disorder

Hi everyone,

I don't know if i am permitted to post on these boards if i am not a psych nurse, but i have a real problem and when i saw this site i thought it was a great place to perhaps get an answer to my problem.

My on/off boyfriend has admitted to me that he has a disorder fo some kind and based on his symptoms, i am sure it is EDD/BPD (although i admit i am not an expert, but his behaviour points to this) One of his symptoms is that he punches himself in the face whenever he gets angry/hurt/panicked about something, most of the time the cause of him punching himself is something so ridiculous, like me saying i don't agree with him on something or pretty much anything really trivial. Once he actually called me names, hit himself 25 times, used my hand to hit him while screaming at me to hurt him and then punched through a door...all in response to me giving him advice on something (that he asked me to advise on) He has old scars that look like burns between his legs at the very top of his groin and when i asked him what they were he denied even having them. He regualrly calls me rerrible names, rages at me out of the blue, ends the relationship for nothing constantly. But my main question is, is it normal for SI's to hit themselves in the face, i know people cut, scratch etc, but i have never heard of hitting in the face...is this normal behaviour for BPD or SI?

Please help.

We are not allowed to give medical or psychiatric advice on this forum. That being said, if your boyfriend is hurting himself &/or being physically or emotionally abusive to you, then you BOTH need to seek professional help (in person, not online) immediately! If you are not sure where to get help, please call the National Mental Health Association: 800-969-NMHA (6642).

Ok, thank you Amanda, understood.

Remember, when dealing with disorders of a psychological nature, one must stick to a five axis diagnosis while asking three questions of each:

How much?

How Long?

How does it affect their functioning.

The DSM-IV lays out the diagnostic criteria for conditions in plain black and white, however; they also put on every other page that if you are not a qualified psychologist/psychiatrist that they would prefer you stay away from labeling individuals based on this book.

For instance, if I label someone bipolar, that is a lifelong disorder; but if I give them manic tendencies then that will affect my GAF Scale

and the name of the game is insurance. They absolutely will not pay for a patient with a GAF above 55. Be careful with diagnosing, however perfect the textbook; even the doctors make mistakes in diagnosis every once in a while.