I agree with the part about your team, and want to add the caution that BPD specifically comes with the stigma that we are attention-seeking and/or liars and a likelihood that we will be taken less seriously or disbelieved about our symptoms, including in a potentially life-threatening emergency. I have siloed my diagnosis-- the practitioners I did DBT with know, but I have not and will never sign a release allowing them to share that information with other medical professionals-- for exactly that reason. In an emergency, you can't vet individuals who will have access to your medical records-- only institutions. And people aren't going to self-identify as having stigma-- they're often going to put on a professional face but be subtly influenced to see you differently.

@@liferadous Definitely understand that. I appreciate you guys discussing the complexities around disclosure for BPD. I’ve had many BPD friends in my life, so I wish I could express to people in the field that it’s really not what they think…in my experience, anybody with any disorder can be toxic if they aren’t self-aware of it. But the BPD people I’ve known who were working toward recovery have been welcoming, sweet, gregarious, honest (sometimes too much) and loyal. Yes, they do get more activated than “normal” when they have an unmet need, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be trusted. I think I’m terms of stigma, similar can be said for anyone with a Cluster B condition. The assumption by laymen is that nothing they do is sincere. To be blunt, I think that bias comes from the fact that neurotypicals don’t want to admit that EVERYONE does something to GET something. Even if somebody is acting out to get validation, sympathy, or some other need met, that doesn’t mean they don’t truly want or need it. It’s a matter of honing one’s ability to cope and regulate. Which most people can’t do that well!! Undiagnosed or “normal” people act out to get their way every day of the week, often to the detriment of others. Anyone in the service industry can tell you as much. For the record, I have DID myself. It brings a different type of distrust or dismissal with medical workers, assuming they know what it is//believe it exists at all. I think the fact that many practitioners believe that claims of DID actually mean BPD with dissociative features causes them to, as you said, assume I’m lying to seek attention. The bias in the medical profession is really staggering. Amazing how ignorant a person can be after six years or more of intensive schooling.

@@wildersystem WORD

THIS! One of the things that people routinely fail to recognize is that the vast majority of behaviors outlined in various mental health conditions are not completely foreign to the every day human experience. Usually it is a matter of degree rather than a categorical difference.

​@@thebpdbunch💯! This!