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Acting In and Acting Out: Borderline Personality Disorder and Removing Stigma (Part 1)
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BPD is Twice as Common as Schizophrenia
While living with or working with someone with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) can be difficult, living with the challenges and stigma of it every day can be torture. Due to BPD’s elusive nature in national awareness, many people that BPs encounter on a daily basis shun or can often be down right violent towards the nature of someone diagnosed with BPD. It should be important to note that this is not entirely the fault of the person diagnosed with BP, but moreover, the fault of a system that has very little function in making more people aware of these symptoms.
Borderline Personality Disorder is twice as common in the
For one, the behavior includes “Acting Out, Acting In”. Borderline Personality Disorder is greatly about trying to cope with an enormous inner anguish. Both Acting In and Acting Out are ways to alleviate pain. When a BP acts out, it is usually at the person trying to care for them the most; this includes blaming, accusing someone of something they didn’t say, criticizing or verbally abusive behavior. While this behavior if it is being thrust upon you is difficult to hold patience with in any situation, it is important to remember that if the person who is doing this is diagnosed with BPD then most of the time, this is not something they want to do, but more over a reaction to their own inner pain. Much like many in society do not blame someone with Tourette Syndrome for swearing or shouting out of turn, while BPD is not neurological, much of the reaction should be framed in the same mindset when dealing with it.
Acting In can be just as stigmatizing, especially when dealing with an understaffed ER and trying to seek help. Those who “Act In” usually are known for self-mutilation, suicide attempts, drug abuse or other self harming behavior. This is the result of turning their anger on themselves and blaming themselves. Often the shame they feel is so overwhelming, they feel they have no other choice. With BPD, those who exhibit these features do not usually participate in these activities as an isolated incident. Therefore, they find themselves in an ER seeking help on more than one occasion. This can lead to the staff meant to help believing the “Boy/Girl who cried wolf” scenario. I (and I’m sure many other health care professionals who have worked intimately with BPD) can assure you this is not the case. Every attempt, no matter how often or to what degree of severity, is serious and should be taken as such.
This is just a small portion of how to identify, if not simply to understand just a small portion of BPD in hope of increasing the awareness. In the following weeks, I will be writing more articles concerning this national epidemic to further this cause. BPD is a treatable disorder, and the more people know the more lives we can hope to save.
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