Global Health Mag

If you live with borderline personality disorder (BPD), you’re probably familiar with the nine classic criteria commonly associated with the diagnosis. Symptoms like frantic efforts to avoid abandonment, uncontrollable anger and black-and-white thinking often plague people who live with BPD. To learn more, check out the graphic we created below.   While we tend to focus on the symptoms themselves, we don’t always talk about the one thing …

I’ve read countless articles, many on The Mighty, about the struggle of having an invisible illness and the way other people judge the “validity” of people’s conditions. I’ve also read about people who aren’t taken seriously when they express their most intimate, dark thoughts to family, professionals, and friends. I’m a psychologist. Not too long ago I was reunited with many other mental …

When I talk about the cost of being borderline, I don’t mean metaphorically; I mean, “How much does it cost to have borderline personality disorder (BPD)?” Often when discussing mental illness we talk about how emotions affect a person or their family and friends, but rarely is money discussed when it comes to being mentally ill. At the moment I’m …

I always get congratulated and praised for how well I function despite having borderline personality disorder (BPD) and emetophobia. But I don’t do it to fight through, or to seem OK. I have this constant pressure of losing people in my life. I have this fear of letting people down, and then they leave me. My functioning is fueled by a symptom of …

Back in August of 2016, I was put on a treatment section for three weeks as an alternative to inpatient and it honestly saved my life at the time. I was in and out of the psychiatric hospital every single day talking to lots of different professionals who managed to get me into a more stable mindset to allow me …

People who live with borderline personality disorder (BPD) face some of the harshest stigma on the internet. From articles about why you shouldn’t date someone with BPD to articles about people “recovering” from borderlines, it’s no wonder people with this condition don’t recommend googling their condition to their loved ones. But this puts people with borderline personality disorder in a …

Dealing with borderline personality disorder symptoms can be overwhelming and exhausting. So much of my life feels wasted dealing with this disorder, trying to make my way through the world without hurting myself or others. Fighting unrelenting anxiety in social situations or intense anger at work? Trying to keep from killing yourself? It’s exhausting. It makes me want to quit sometimes. But …

To my sweet dear lover, There was a time I was actively suicidal and I felt like you didn’t care for me. You asked why this was happening, trying to find out the root of the problem so you could stop it. Fact is, you won’t. I get so stressed out easily when I feel like I can’t answer questions. …

We want to be there for our friends. After all, what are friends for? But sometimes, it can be difficult to understand, let alone recognize, when others are struggling with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Their symptoms may not make sense to you, and there is no one-size-fits-all guide that describes what signs to look for if you think someone you …

This month I realized I needed to take a break from dating, while I was still fully in the throes of my latest fling. I need to stop having “casual” relationships because there was nothing casual about them. I flew to another country to meet up with a man I’d only known a month then spent two days crying after …

I read a lot. As a writer, I read to know the world, to gain knowledge and to understand parts of myself more deeply. When I was first diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD) at 26, I read all I could. I wanted to understand what to expect, both of myself and of how my relationships would be impacted. Most articles implied that people …

People in the borderline personality disorder (BPD) community asked Instagram to stop silencing them after the social media platform removed or blocked access to the #BPD hashtag page. According to Instagram, the move will “protect” users from “content that may encourage behavior that can cause harm and even lead to death.” In mid-November, people in the BPD community noticed the …

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a frequently overgeneralized condition. Stereotypically, individuals with BPD are seen as impulsive and moody with outbursts of anger; however, while impulsivity and intense emotions are possible symptoms of BPD, they are not applicable to all. There are 256 possible representations of BPD, and stereotyping individuals with the disorder marginalizes those who exhibit these “stereotypical” symptoms. It …

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is so incredibly complex that no two people with the disorder are exactly the same. There is a sliding scale of symptoms and different treatment options that work for BPD patients in many different ways.  For example, one of my biggest triggers is rejection, whether real or something I perceive could happen at any moment. There is …

I was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD) over five years ago. A lot has changed since that time, but the one thing that has remained constant is the feelings of chronic emptiness I experience daily. I am a hollow being, without purpose or reason. I don’t know why I am here in this world. The thing is, I’ve never …