Hi. My name is Isabelle. I’m 21. I have PTSD and borderline personality disorder (BPD). BPD is a mental illness people get from childhood trauma. BPD is highly stigmatized as a “manipulative, evil, crazy” person mental illness. I’m here to tell you this is not true.—

Borderline Personality Disorder presents itself in many, many ways. Some ways it may present itself is with erratic emotions that go from one extreme to another. Another way it presents itself is through risky and dangerous behavior like self harm, eating disorders, & risky sex-

And drug use. Another way BPD can present itself is people will have a very hard time making and keeping friendships. This can be because people may experience an intense fear of abandonment, whether because they’ve experienced a lot of abandonment before, or it’s a big fear. —

The fear of abandonment can cause extreme anxiety in a person with or without BPD, but for a person with BPD, sometimes someone may be extra “on guard” or paranoid about a relationship ending/being abandoned, and this might cause a person to go to extreme measures to avoid —

— the pain of rejection of others, whether it would have been “real” rejection or “imagined” rejection. This can sometimes cause a person with BPD to lie about certain aspects of their life, though not all of it and not always. This sometimes will lead to people with BPD having —

— many unstable and often intense relationships, both romantic and platonic. The person with BPD might also often fear that their friend and/or partner doesn’t care about them, and thus they will seek constant reassurance. This can come off as manipulative or attention seeking—

—but it is never the intention that the person set off to make. Another thing, something I can especially relate with, that people may experience with Borderline Personality Disorder, is rapid changes in how they view their self-identity and image. This includes their goals —

—for the future and what they want to do with their life. Another, & again very relatable thing, that people may experience with BPD is periods with stress-related paranoia. This can result in a loss of contact with reality, meaning the things that I or others might be paranoid—

— about,might not make total sense to others. A very symptom that people with BPD experience is feeling of hopeless & uncertain of the future. Sometimes we also will experience intense emotions, & it can be difficult to control until we learn coping skills,which are VERY helpful—

— The absolutely most important thing to remember when it comes to Borderline Personality Disorder, is that a person who has it is NOT their diagnosis. And not one person will experience every symptom nor will they experience the symptoms the same way. —

—BPD is NOT what you read about in books or watch on tv. It’s a complex mental illness with real humans. Most importantly it’s treatable and most people manage their symptoms quite well.

It’s time to end the stigma around Borderline Personality Disorder.

Enough is enough.

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy has been proven to be one of (if not THE) most effective ways to help treat Borderline Personality Disorder. It was created by Marsha Linehan, a Professor of Psychiatry