Lived Experience Forum

[Shaz51]

You deserve appropriate and quality services alway--- I totally agree @Former-Member , @BlueBay 

my husband does not want any help -- and it is hard 

[Former-Member]

It’s nearly the end of the night already! I cannot believe how quickly time has gone by! We have heard so many interesting discussions from everyone and have learned so much about how we can flip the scripts in different settings. 

Language can affect how others perceive us, as well as how we perceive ourselves. Both public and self-stigma could contribute to a lot of the stigma and discrimination surrounding the diagnosis of BPD.

My last question to you @JulianSpectrum  is: What are 2 things that we can start doing to begin flipping all of the scripts we have mentioned earlier and celebrate our strengths as individuals?

For everyone else: What are 1-2 key take-away for you from tonight’s discussion?

[JulianSpectrum]

@Former-Member 

The ‘Art Against Stigma’ part of the BPD Awareness week website has terrific resources on ways in which the self-stigma can be ‘flipped’ and reframed as strengths. I highly recommended visiting it if you haven’t already (https://www.bpdawareness.com.au/art-against-stigma/).

Having said that, I know it’s not always easy to view something you are going through as a strength, for all sorts of reasons. A tip here may be to know that reframing does not always have to be about strengths. Sometimes it can feel painfully hard to see something that is causing you and/or others difficulty as a strength. In these situations, I would advocate for finding a way to reframe things that focuses on self-compassion.

There are many things that one can try in order to facilitate self-compassion, the internet is not short of lists of these things! Some important ingredients here may be to  be curious about what was happening for you (before the thing you want to reframe). What were you thinking? What were you feeling? What did you want to have happen? It’s very hard to reframe in a way that resonates with you unless you have some sort of understanding about what drove you to do what you did. Once you have a sense of this, consider how you would respond if someone close to you told you they felt this way – would you be as harsh to them as you are yourself?

This is not an instant fix to develop self-compassion, but it may be a starting point in  a longer journey. Different things will work for different people, and if you’re getting stuck in that process, it may be useful to speak with a therapist about it.

[BlueBay]

Keep persevering 

find a trustworthy therapist 

share my diagnosis 

fingers crossed 🤞 

@Former-Member @JulianSpectrum 

[Former-Member]

Amazing @JulianSpectrum - flipping the script of strengths to self-compassion instead! 

[BPDSurvivor]

Two key take-aways:

1. We need to work collaboratively to create a voice for people with BPD traits.

2. Our use of language affects self and others - consider 'flipping the script' so others can benefit from what we say.

Thanks soooooo much @JulianSpectrum  and @Former-Member  and everyone else!

[BlueBay]

Great night again 

it's good to know that I don't feel so lonely in this journey 

thanks @JulianSpectrum @Former-Member and everyone else joining 

[Former-Member]

We are at the end of our discussion for tonight everyone  

I want to thank all of you for coming to our event tonight  I hope that it was an engaging and useful one to get everyone thinking about changing how we and others around us talk about Borderline Personality Disorder.

I also want to thank @JulianSpectrum for being such a fantastic special guest at our event. If you want to find out more about Spectrum’s work, you can check out their website here.

For more information about BPD awareness week, you can take a look at their website here. And if you want to know more about Borderline Personality Disorder you can also check out our fact sheet and guide.

I will leave the thread open until tomorrow morning for any last discussions. Have a good night everyone! See you around the forums!

[Judi9877]

@Former-Member @JulianSpectrum 

The key messages I'm planning to take away is that I'm more than just my BPD and that there is further training for health professionals needed in this area. I have to accept that I didn't ask for this condition but it does have its good points as well like caring about people and feeling deeply.

[JulianSpectrum]

@Former-Member Thanks for letting me be part of the discussion everyone, it's been great to hear your experiences. Hopefully we can all be part of the change that's needed to keep flipping the scripts.