by Ana Montana

I once read that Borderline Personality Disorder is one of the most misunderstood mental illnesses. And, well, sadly… it is true. Though we’ve been fighting to change the ‘Stay away from Borderlines’ stigma, most people (and doctors!) are still not aware of the enormous strength and resiliency we have brought to the everyday struggle of coping with the disruptive symptoms of our condition.

We are often misunderstood. I’ve been trying to advocate and debunk all the myths that have placed Borderline Personality Disorder as an ‘untreatable’ mental illness.

I AM NOT TRYING TO SEEK FOR ATTENTION!

NO, I CAN’T STOP CRYING AND I CAN’T CALM DOWN IF YOU’RE TELLING ME TO!

YES, MAYBE I’M OVERREACTING, BUT I CAN´T HELP IT! (I’ll probably realize later on that the ‘issue’ wasn’t that much of a problem, but it was for me at the time)

NO, I’M NOT ‘JUST TIRED’!

NO, I’M NOT TRYING TO MANIPULATE YOU!

I RRRREALLY LOVE YOU, BUT I’M RRRREALLY HATING YOU RIGHT NOW!

I CAN’T ‘JUST RELAX’!

I CAN´T JUST ‘STOP’ THINKING AND FEELING!

I’M NOT ON MY PERIOD!

JUST GO! I’LL DEAL WITH THIS ON MY OWN!

I CAN’T ‘EXPLAIN’ WHAT I’M EXPERIENCING RIGHT NOW!

YES! I’LL BE FINE, JUST GIVE ME SOME SPACE!

You know how many times I’ve wanted to SCRRRRREAAAAM to someone these things I just SHOUTED above? (I tried to achieve the shouting effect by using CAPS LOCK and of course, the very obvious GIF). Well, the answer is… thousands of times. Almost every day. I’ve actually done it several times (with very close people), but it just seems to freak them out even more. WHAT THE FUCK?

I’ve also tried explaining these misconceptions about my illness in a calm way and, obviously, the response has been positive… most of the times. Of course it has become a huge challenge for me, the ‘advocacy’ to set things straight and break down the stigma that surrounds this illness, raising awareness ONE DAY AT A TIME. BPD is not a life sentence, I mean, we are NOT sentenced to live an awful life, actually, we’re just flawed… LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE IN THE WORLD.

BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER DOES NOT DEFINE WHO YOU ARE AS A PERSON.

* Do you have a friend or family member with BPD? Do you want to share your story with us? Remember you can write us here. We’re here, contact us! 🙂