The first guest blog post in my ongoing series is courtesy of Steph over at May Contain Nuts. She’s written about her experiences of having BPD and the stigma that can surround this complex disorder.
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There’s a list as long as your arm of negative things associated with BPD. We are impulsive, we have unstable relationships, we are manipulative, we are emotionally unstable, we have anger issues, we are terrified of abandonment, we are basically toxic. These descriptors have all been used to describe us and many more besides. Sure, there’s no smoke without fire and yes sometimes we do fit the descriptions but I find it offensive that there is so much emphasis on the negatives. These things make up only a shallow pool of the seas that are our personalities.
That being said I believe that people living with BPD are some of the most genuine, empathetic and caring people you could meet.
We are intuitive, we can tell the mood of a room in seconds and will always pick up on other peoples feelings without being told. Sometimes this can be overwhelming but it is a great gift and being more aware of people’s distress means we can treat them accordingly. You will always be the most important person in the room.
We love passionately. We may have a great fear of abandonment but when we love you, we love you with every fibre of our being. We will do anything for you, within reason of course, and we will always defend you.
We are empathetic. People with BPD experience emotions with great intensity, we know what it’s like to have crushing lows and inner turmoil, which makes us able to relate to other people experiencing similar things.
We are all of these things and more. We don’t deserve the stigma that gets thrown our way. Yes we have BPD and it’s difficult to live with. But we also have so much to give to those that we love.
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You can find more from Steph here: WordPress | Twitter
This is lovely. BPD does have such bad associations, it’s great to see the positives written about. Thank you.
I totally agree!
I always get confused about BPD. Is that Bi-polar Disorder or Borderline Personality Disorder? Sincere question!
In this case it’s borderline personality disorder – that’s usually what people are referring to in my experience, but I can see why you’d be confused!