Topic Tuesday// Borderline Personality Disorder Awareness Week 2022: 'See The Person'// Tues 27th September 2022 7-8:30PM AEST

[TideisTurning]

Some great questions there @Fluttershy1. We're definitely going to be discussing stigma a little later on and we've also noted your other questions too 😊

[BPDSurvivor]

What have your experiences with treatment for BPD been like? Which have you found most effective for you?

Upon being first diagnosed with borderline personality disorder [BPD], I had very little understanding. I thought I had two personalities and lived on the border of the two!

I was diagnosed with BPD while in hospital after engaging in acts of self-harm.

I came out of hospital not knowing where to go or who to turn to. I can’t say it was entirely the fault of the hospital because they perhaps told me, but I was too ‘out-of-it’ to take anything in.

Anyway, after years of being controlled by my BPD, it came to the point where I was sick of always being in hospital. I was living on the edge and at any moment, I knew I’d fall off the edge.

I engaged in various therapy sessions which had elements of DBT, ACT, CBT. However, it wasn’t until I was admitted into an MBT clinic that the real work started.

For 18 months, I attended weekly individual and group sessions. In these sessions, we…talked. I often questioned myself to determine what the purpose of all this talking was. I didn’t want to talk. I didn’t want to see other people. I didn’t want to be engaged in group therapy.

Yet, I stuck to it.

Pretty much towards the end of MBT therapy, was I then able to see subtle shifts in my ways of thinking. To be honest, I believe the real work was done AFTER the months of intensive therapy.

[Fluttershy1]

Can you tag me when they have been answered @TideisTurning @BPDSurvivor @Alex_Spectrum 

[BPDSurvivor]

Hi @M_P90 ,

In terms of accessing therapy sessions for BPD, there has been a petition going around to get something in place that is similar to what is offered for Eating Disorders. Those in the BPD community know for sure that it takes more than 10-20 sessions for any treatment to even scratch the surface!

So, with this petition and people contacting those that need to hear, fingers crossed!

[Alex_Spectrum]

Hi @Fluttershy1 some really important questions! In terms of finding the right Psychologist it’s helpful to try to find someone who is interested in working with people with a diagnosis of BPD. It can sometimes be a process of trial and error in finding the right fit for you. Though also it can be really helpful to be able to talk to your Psychologist if things aren’t feeling right as this can help let them know that they may need to change their approach or change the way you work together. For me, I think it’s always helpful to know if something doesn’t feel right in therapy and to find out what I can do differently to better support someone.

We will talk a bit more about stigma later.

[BPDSurvivor]

Hey @Fluttershy1 ,

In terms of your question, How do you find a right psychologist that knows about BPD and is willing to support you:

Believe it or not, there are therapists who actually thrive on working with people with BPD! I always felt the same as you - each time I go to hospital, I get a physical med clearance, then I'm tossed out. 

So for me, I know it's about networking. It's about finding people who want to work with people with BPD. I know for sure that treating BPD takes a lot of patience, time and commitment. Hence, you need to find a well-paired therapist.

[M_P90]

Yes, this is my big concern here. Personally, I've also needed a lot of intensive therapy - group and 1:1. The winning combination for me has been DBT, EMDR, ACT and ED-CBT (eating disorder specific) + exercise physiology+ dietetics. And I still struggle with episodes of depression. I've had the financial resources and access to the ED-MHCP to cover my interventions. But many don't.

[puzzlingdino]

I haven’t yet started treatment specifically for my BPD, but I know what treatments haven’t worked for me in the past when my issues were perceived as only anxiety and depression. I found that typical CBT and ACT weren’t very useful to me, as the therapies (or the ways they were delivered, I guess) just didn’t seem to address my problems or be based on an understanding of what I was actually experiencing. I was lucky enough to eventually find a psychologist who encouraged me to share what hasn’t worked for me in the past and to discuss with her what is/isn’t working in our sessions, and she tailors her approach based on that. From memory, I think her approach has included aspects of DBT, Schema, Narrative, and a little CBT (but I could be misremembering some of those!), and I have found this to be the most helpful approach for me.

[TideisTurning]

Our Next Question for our special guests @Alex_Spectrum & @BPDSurvivor: There can be a lot of barriers to accessing or engaging with treatment, like trouble finding the best therapy or provider, costs involved or long wait lists. How might we be able to get through or overcome these barriers? 

[Abner]

I think that anyone who's been diagnosed with a chronic psychotic disorders and has been subjected to family or domestic violence faces the same issue of having their experience invalidated and disbelieved, and that has tragic consequences for us, however it is a terrible fact that people don't have to believe us...and that's often where we have to rely on our own emotional strengths, such as we may feel or get from friends.  I've often found even friends aren't terrific, sometimes they're just as turncoat.