Thanks for starting this thread. The stigma attached to BPD is significant, and it has a long history.
I remember, as some of you might too, that before approaches like Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) became more widely known, BPD was often seen as untreatable. Because of that, the system wasn’t always compassionate or understanding toward people like me, especially during times of crisis.
At times, responses that were meant to “discourage” certain behaviours ended up causing further harm and added to the trauma. I really hope there has been a cultural shift since then.
Back then, I struggled a lot with self-harm. I still remember being referred to by a senior clinician as the area’s “leading borderline.” It wasn’t said as a compliment, and it stayed with me.
These days, I rarely, if ever, self-harm. It’s taken a lot to get here. I’m still living with some of the lasting effects of what I went through, but things are different now. For a long time, I didn’t expect to make it to this age given my history. And yet… here I am.
