Psychiatrists regularly get criticized for turning typical life problems into medical disorders. But in an odd reversal, many mental health clinicians are trying to transform one certified mental illness, borderline personality disorder, into a label for needy, manipulative people who don’t need treatment. Sufferers are often belittled and have their symptoms dismissed as simply the normal human experience. This is so frustrating if like me you have battled this illness all your adult life and really want appropriate help so you can strive to live life to your fullest potential despite BPD.
What does it feel like to suffer from BPD?
In simple terms: “A person suffering of a borderline disorder swings between adult’s behavior and disturbed childish behavior. The adult behavior of the Borderline can suddenly collapse without apparent provocation resulting in tears or a seemingly infantile show of anger”
In a nutshell: “She is a girl in an adults body”
We react more intensely to lower levels of stress than others. It can be seen as Emotional Dysregulation or emotional hypersensitivity.
“It’s just their nature” > False, it is a mental disorder, an illness, not the person
“He/she is a childish man or woman” > False, it’s a sick person disturbed and unable to manage their emotions
“She is just a silly billy” > False, their IQ is completely “normal”, she is often well-educated and can even hold down a rewarding career
“She manipulate, she lie” > False, she use defence mechanisms in order to protect herself
“She can improve without treatment” > False, she probably better hide
“It is a woman illness” > False, men are diagnosed less (or are already in prison)
“I’m doing what I can by protecting her, avoiding crises” > False, you prevent her from becoming aware of their problems and take away any sense of responsibility she might have
“She is too young to have this disease” > False, symptoms are possible from childhood onwards
“You can never recover from a mental illness” > False, the right treatment is effective
“The borderline disorder does not exist” > False, thousand of clinical studies and publications prove that it is a mental illness with genetics, biological (serotonin) and environmental tendencies
Statistics
2 to 4% of the general population
73% of “borderlines” will attempt suicide at least once in their lifetime
10% of “borderlines” will die
30% to 40% of suicides are committed by people with a personality disorder
borderline personality disorder 