Countering stigma requires encountering stigma

Why do we need a revolution in the way borderline personality disorder is perceived by the medical field and wider culture? In this first episode of A Real Affliction, host Dr. Cynthia Gralla introduces the interview podcast and her upcoming guests, shares some of her experiences from her decades-long fight with BPD, and explains what needs to change if we are to better support people with this wildly misunderstood disorder.

Trigger warning: This episode talks about suicide.

Resources for this episode:

If you are having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources. 

You can find the criteria for BPD in the DSM-5 here

Ron B. Aviram et al., “Borderline Personality Disorder, Stigma, and Treatment Implications”

Caroline Walker Bynum, Holy Feast and Holy Fast: The Religious Significance of Food to Medieval Women

Anne Boyer, The Undying

Rebecca Byerly’s NYT article about a marathon runner with BPD

Georges Didi-Huberman, Invention of Hysteria: Charcot and the Photographic Iconography of the Salpêtrière

Sara Rose Masland and Hannah E. A. Peeples, “People with BPD Need Compassion Yet Even Clinicians Stigmatise Them”

Sara Masland et al., “Destigmatizing Borderline Personality Disorder: A Call to Action for Psychological Science”

Marie Ociskova et al., “F*ck Your Care If You Label Me! Borderline Personality Disorder, Stigma, and Self-stigma”

Christina Vanvuren, “The History of Hysteria: Sexism in Diagnosis”

Simone Weil, “Human Personality”