One of the most damaging things to patients with mental disorders is the stigma they face. The stigma surrounding cluster B disorders (narcissistic personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, and histrionic personality disorder) is extremely damaging to youth and adults struggling with these disorders as they are simply trying to survive and live their life in a neurotypical world. We are specifically going to be looking into the stigma surrounding borderline personality disorder (BPD).
First of all, we need to have a brief idea of what exactly a personality disorder is. A personality disorder is a type of mental disorder in which you have a rigid and unhealthy pattern of thinking, functioning, and behaving. It also involves trouble with perceiving and relating to situations and people. This includes interpersonal relationships.
Now, we will specifically be focusing on BPD. Borderline Personality Disorder is a chronic condition characterised by pervasive instability in moods, interpersonal relationships, self-image, identity, and behaviour. This instability often disrupts family and work life, long-term planning, and an individual’s sense of identity. There are over 200 known “types” of BPD due to the combination of the 9 criteria to meet for a diagnosis.
Adding to that, borderline personality disorders remain to be one of the most misunderstood, misdiagnosed, and underrepresented mental illnesses. Research shows that even mental health professionals have stigmatising mindsets where they refuse to take in patients with BPD or treat them. Some even label them as “treatment-resistant”. Most egregious, some of these professionals take in patients with BPD while not having enough knowledge and skills to properly help them and this can cause the patient to spiral further into a bad headspace. It reinforces the idea that seeking help is pointless and hopeless.
This can have a huge impact on the symptoms of patients with BPD as they already put in so much energy to live their days. Because practitioners choose to treat these patients differently, it can worsen the condition in many ways when they minimise symptoms or overlook strengths. This blatant act of disregard by health professionals does nothing but hurt patients with BPD and the stigma by professionals even bleeds onto the general public.
In today's society, nearly every disorder is looked at with fear and apprehension, and this stereotype is often reinforced by the media, which doesn’t care about presenting an accurate representation of these disorders. It is a modern fact that society as a whole is still uneducated and ignorant about mental health and mental disorders.
To bring this back to BPD, I would like to bring your attention to the disgusting fact that even among all the other disorders, BPD is shunned and looked at with disdain in a massive way. People with BPD will often have to face the ill will of the public and be subjected to slander and anger, all because we as a society aren't trying to learn and educate ourselves about this disorder. Often, people with BPD are looked at as manipulative or shallow. For instance, whenever a problem arises in a relationship, people will generally blame the person with BPD and not try and figure out if there was more to the situation.
As friends, when a person with BPD shows signs of closing off, the other person would take it as a sign that they, the person with BPD, don’t desire the friendship. They start to unfairly blame and hate that person, despite the fact that they could just be going through a bad time and all they needed was some reassurance of their worth. As lovers, people tend to not place much thought on the fact that the other person has BPD. Whenever their partner starts to show symptoms of their case, they start to hold contempt and ire against them because, in their head, they think that BPD is just “some dramatic illness that doesn’t mean much”. Due to this, they aren’t equipped with the mindset of helping their partners.
This entire stigma from the public and the medical field causes harm to patients with BPD. It reinforces their beliefs that they are “worthless” and causes them to retreat further into their own bubble. Furthermore, it even discourages them from seeking help and treatment. With this, I will end this article by saying, to the people who have loved ones with BPD, please educate yourself on this disorder and support your loved one with sincerity and to the best of your abilities.
To the people suffering from BPD, know that you are worth a lot and that you will be surrounded by love and care one day, and that it is possible for you to live a life surrounded by people who love and understand you.
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