Julian has spoken about some of the misconceptions in the community, which unfortunately can sometimes exist in the mental health system as well.
Sometimes we work with people who have misconceptions about having BPD themselves. One of the most common ones is that they’re alone or in some way ‘on the outside looking in’ at the rest of society. Anyone who has experienced this will know how incredibly awful it feels, and without wanting to diminish the pain of that experience, I guess I would want anyone with BPD to know that you’re not alone: there are lots of people out there, between half a million and 1.25 million Australians right now, who face similar challenges and share something of your experience, and may feel the same way you do.
Another common misconception is that people can’t recover from BPD. Recovery is different for everybody, but it’s important to know that recovery from BPD is absolutely possible, and that most people with BPD experience improvement in their symptoms over time with or without treatment. Committing to effective treatment is helpful at speeding up the recovery process.
