Why do BPD people get such a shitty rap? Honest question. I have heard this a lot (mostly online): “Run the other way because these people are fucking nuts and will ruin your life.”

Ha I wonder if we have the same as yet unnamed disorder.

The friend I mentioned who has BPD does the split. I do the passive aggression. She goes first to anger, I go first to depression. It’s interesting to see it manifest in different people. And yes I would like to chat, I post a fair amount here on Jez, Gawker and io9 but I’ve been grey since they took away our stars…

I don’t know you but I’m rooting for you. I have bad (my sister) and good (one of my best friends) experiences with BPD, and I still have knee-jerk reactions.

Oh thank you! I’m glad it was helpful. I do have a blog, but it’s more broadly focused and I’m not a super regular writer. Mostly it touches on feminism, health, mental health, embodiment, and ranting about neoliberalism.

I went to an emotional growth boarding school and we did an exercise where everyone figured out our “negative statements”, essentially the thing we are most scared is true about ourselves. Mine was “Unlovable”, which I think is probably true for a lot of people but definitely for BPD sufferers. My two sets of closest…

I think it all sucks, and I think until we remember to see people (even the ones that can be incredibly hurtful to us) as people then we’re not gonna be able to help or learn to live together in a healthy way.

IT sounds like you’ve already got some great stuff in your toolkit!

Thanks for speaking up! I totally agree. I have lots of love for everyone who stood up and said that we deserve kindness and respect. We are people, we are good, we are more than a scary and stigmatized illness.

Person who suffers from BPD here. Please do not confuse our illness with psychopathy or sociopathy. Sufferers of BPD are far more likely to harm themselves than anyone else, and it does not help that our illness is often erroneously named as the culprit whenever stories like this surface.

Fellow BPD (HIGH FIVE FOR TOO MANY FEELINGS.) It’s hard for me too, but we shouldn’t shit on other personality disorders, even though it feels easy and okay.

My sister also has it and though sometimes she acts as if she doesn’t, she feels for everyone. She can get in her own way with it, or even seem to ignore it, but she’s exceptionally empathetic and compassionate.