Self Help for BPD

The concept of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is often explained using an analogy of a burning building.

When we are our most symptomatic—engaging in self-injury or other masochistic activity, making suicide attempts, jumping out of moving cars, using illegal drugs or alcohol to dull our emotional pain, texting an ex-boyfriend hundreds of times in the space of just an hour or two—we're in the basement trying to get to safety while avoid the flames.

The first step requires asking for help and that can be absolutely terrifying for someone who has been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. The second? Accessing evidenced-based care from a therapist or other mental health professional who isn't going to increase the overwhelming sense of shame that accompanies having a mental illness, desperately wanting to change, and then not being able to on your own.

I speak with wonderful people every single day who are ready to make this first step in helping themselves or someone they love. If you're alone and have access to few resources, there really are ways that you can help yourself starting today.

Are you ready to get out of the fire? Are you ready to create a life worth living?

You can do this. I promise.

Friday Night Live with Stacy Pershall

Please join Hope for BPD on Friday, November 4th at 8:00 pm EDT (5:00 pm PDT) for a 90-minute discussion with Stacy Pershall.

Stacy is the author of Loud in the House of Myself: Memoir of a Strange Girl (WW Norton, 2011) and speaks on college campuses throughout the United States as a part of Active Minds.

During this tele-event, Stacy will talk about her story and will answer your questions about BPD, DBT, and how you can share your own story with others through writing.

While this event is geared towards individuals diagnosed with the disorder, family members and friends are more than welcome to join in the discussion.

The cost for this event is $25 per person but you can register for just $15 through October 30th. Please contact Amanda Smith at (941) 704-4328 for more information.

Brandon Marshall's Borderline Beast

Traditionally, the typical BPD sufferer has been stereotyped as a young and pretty white female who is over-emotional, manipulative, and hell-bent on destroying relationships.

Enter Brandon Marshall.

Marshall is a NFL football player and he doesn't remotely resemble any stereotypes.

His video Borderline Beast is a must-watch for anyone who thinks that know what BPD looks like as well as families who are interested in understanding this devastating illness from the point-of-view from someone who is suffering.

I've now met hundreds of different kinds of people with BPD. Most of them are high functioning, have families, stable careers, and are active participants in their schools, churches, and communities. While there may be lots of similiarities when it comes to behaviors, they are all unique.

Hope for BPD celebrates Mr. Marshall's brave revelation about his diagnosis of BPD and congratulates him on taking the next steps in his recovery.