BPD Recovery and Stigma Video Lecture

Mahari talks about how she not only encountered and suffered from the stigma of Borderline Personality Disorder when she had BPD but how 14 years after her recovery she can and does still encounter some residual stigma. She emphasizes, however, that she is not ashamed now, nor has she ever been, to be someone who had BPD. Mahari truly believes that while others may still stigmatize BPD, those with BPD do not have to be or feel ashamed to have this diagnosis.

You do not have to take on the judgment of others with regard to this pointing out that the shame of BPD stigma meets squarely with the shame of the unresolved abandonment trauma of those with BPD.

There are too many lives at stake for the still pervasive stigma about Borderline Personality Disorder to continue.

Mahari talks about how she knew she was making a conscious decision and choice in the work that she does to stand up and be as stigmatized as it takes to raise awareness about BPD and to help others still needing to find their way out of Borderline Personality Disorder.

Mahari firmly believes that in order to recover from BPD one has to know what one's challenge is and what the lay of the land is. She believes this based upon her own first hand experience of both having BPD and recovering from it. One has to know they have BPD and what that truly means. Mahari asks the question, "How can one recover from something they don't know they have?"

Mahari also talks about an experience she had in the past, when she had BPD, of being told by a psychiatrist that she couldn't and wouldn't get better unless they found a better pill. Mahari firmly believes that there is a lot of misinformation and stigma in some of the emphasis put upon the "biology of BPD" and the push to in some circles to medicate and/or see some magical cure-all pill as the hope for the future. The future is now, for you, if you have BPD, number one. Secondly, Mahari knows it doesn't take a magical pill to recover. She encourages others to think about the implications of stigma in the rush to medication.

Mahari will inspire you, if you have BPD, to move beyond allowing anything to do with any remaining stigma about Borderline Personality Disorder effecting your choices or in any way inhibiting you from finding your own recovery.