Category Archives: BPD-Related

Explores BPD: its stigma, its literary manifestations, its burdens on sufferers and their families

Re-Stigmatizing BPD

Posted on August 10, 2010 by Kathy

There’s been a little dust-up going on partly in response to my post Stigmas, Statistics, and Borderline, where I mentioned that the website BringChange2Mind, created by Glenn Close to help reduce the stigma of mental illness, leaves out personality disorders and … Continue reading →

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More Literary BPD!

Posted on July 27, 2010 by Kathy

  The sexually voracious Kirsten Munk (1598-1658), consort of King Christian 4th of Denmark, was terrified that, first, her lover Otto Ludwig would leave her, and then that she would lose her beloved handmaiden Emilia. She was incapable of empathy and showed no … Continue reading →

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Diagnosing at a Distance

Posted on July 19, 2010 by Kathy

Borderline personality disorder is alive and well on the internet these days, what with the shenanigans of Mel Gibson and Lindsay Lohan. Googling Mel and borderline just now, I found lots of links, including a diagnostic blog entry on the Huffington … Continue reading →

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It’s Bertha’s World. We’re Just Living in It.

Posted on July 11, 2010 by Kathy

I take communion every week to a lady named Bertha. Although she can’t always remember exactly how old she is, she consistently cites 1912 as the year of her birth. So I feel confident that she’s 97 years old, soon … Continue reading →

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Pessimism 101

Posted on July 6, 2010 by Kathy

This time of year always reminds me of my mom’s negativity — a quality I now associate with her undiagnosed BPD. Every year, every single year, as the 4th of July approached, my mom would find an opportunity to sigh that “summer is … Continue reading →

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Do People with BPD Lack Empathy?

Posted on July 3, 2010 by Kathy

The research is all over the place on this question. Though “lack of empathy” is a usual textbook symptom of BPD, some researchers believe that people with the disorder have a peculiar sensitivity to others’ emotional states. I don’t intend to … Continue reading →

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Jane Austen and BPD

Posted on June 28, 2010 by Kathy

It’s true that after writing about my mom and researching borderline personality, I’m inclined to see the disorder lurking behind every frowning face. But I can’t go so far as to diagnose Mrs. Norris of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park (which … Continue reading →

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BPD in Fiction

Posted on June 1, 2010 by Kathy

Speaking of books, I recently finished 36 Arguments for the Existence of God by Rebecca Newberger Goldstein. Despite the title, it’s a novel, and also despite the title, it’s an argument for atheism, the latest salvo in the New Atheism … Continue reading →

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Stigmas, Statistics, and Borderline

Posted on January 7, 2010 by Kathy

“This is where the misconceptions stop. This is where bias comes to an end. This is where we change lives.” These lines express the mission of BringChange2Mind, founded by Fountain House, a program in New York City that assists people … Continue reading →

Posted in BPD-Related | 4 Comments

About Borderline Personality Disorder

Posted on November 13, 2009 by Kathy

Until recently, experts estimated that two to three percent of Americans suffer from borderline personality disorder—over seven-million people. A recent study has upped the estimate to an astounding six percent. That would total around eighteen-million Americans, over three times the … Continue reading →

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