BiPD and BPD: Knowing the Difference, While in an Episode

How to tell what's going on, when these two are in the same person

from JoeUser Forums
Someone I admire greatly said it best: there IS a way to tell when a person, diagnosed with both Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar Disorder is acting out. The following is the best description of the 2 differences:

In BORDERLINE activity, THOUGHTS preceed and alter mood changes and reactions.
In BIPOLAR activity, MOOD preceeds and alters thoughts.

The only thing I'm now wondering is this: why, after over 26 years of therapy, did it take an online support group to teach me this?

This explanation makes sense to everyone who knows me, and might just make me easier to live with.
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Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
That is an excellent distinction. I had a patient I was working with at one of the state mental hospitals, and we originally thought the diagnosis was bipolar II (the patient was never truly manic, but had a long history that sounded hypomanic).

However, as time went on it became more and more obvious that we were actually seeing a lot of BPSD, as the patient's thoughts were clearly preceding the actions and affect, as you so eloquently put it.