National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder: Resources, Support, and Advocacy

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a serious mental illness characterized by difficulties managing intense emotions. Individuals with BPD often exhibit impulsive and sometimes dangerous behaviors as a response to overwhelming feelings. Unstable self-image and relationships are also common features of the disorder. Tragically, about 10% of individuals with BPD die by suicide. The National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder (NEA-BPD) plays a crucial role in providing information, resources, and support for individuals with BPD and their loved ones. Negative spiraling into self-injurious, even suicidal, tendencies can be exacerbated when well-intentioned friends and family react in less-than-skillful ways.

Understanding Borderline Personality Disorder

BPD centers around the inability to effectively manage disproportionately-intense emotions. Most people with BPD respond to their overwhelming feelings with impulsive, sometimes reckless and dangerous behaviors. They often suffer from very unstable self-images and relationships. It's important to remember that a BPD diagnosis doesn't define a person; it's merely information. Individuals with BPD possess creativity, resilience, humor, kindness, and the capacity for growth. Having BPD means navigating challenges, but also navigating with strength. You’re not “less than” because of a label.

The Role of the National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder (NEA-BPD)

The NEA-BPD is a vital resource for those affected by BPD. It provides information and support to individuals with lived experience of BPD and their families. The organization understands the complexities of BPD and offers resources tailored to the specific needs of those affected.

Family Connections

NEA-BPD's Family Connections program offers courses and support specifically for loved ones of people with BPD. Focusing on issues that are specific to BPD and emotion dysregulation, it is hosted in a community setting and led by trained group leaders who are usually family members of relatives with BPD. This program, developed by Dr. Alan Fruzzetti and Dr. Perry Hoffman, is based on research and professional expertise in counseling people with BPD and their loved ones. At NEPDA, we find The Family Guidelines continue to be our baseline resource for interaction and relationship tips.

Additional Resources and Support Systems

Beyond the NEA-BPD, numerous organizations and resources offer support and guidance for individuals with BPD and their families.

Crisis Support

Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Dial 988 to connect with trained crisis counselors.
Masshelpline.com or 833-773-2445: Provides free, immediate, and confidential access to help, connecting individuals directly with a clinician. Insurance is not required.

Mental Health Organizations

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI): The largest national organization addressing mental illness, offering support, education, and advocacy. They also provide resources for loved ones of those with substance use challenges, including information on co-occurring personality disorders and Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT).
Emotions Matter BPD: Offers support, activities, events, peer-led groups, and information for people with lived experience of BPD.
New York Presbyterian BPD Resource Center: A nationwide resource and referral service, including information on in-patient placements.

Treatment and Therapy Resources

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) - McLean Hospital: Provides general information, including treatment programs for BPD.
Psychology Today: Offers lists of therapists by location, type of therapy, specialties, availability, and accepted insurances.
Motivationandchange.com: Resources for both those with addiction challenges and their loved ones.

Therapeutic Approaches and Techniques

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): DBT was designed specifically to help people with BPD.

Books

Several books offer insights and guidance for individuals with BPD and their loved ones:

The Borderline Personality Disorder Survival Guide: Everything You Need to Know About Living with BPD by Kim Gratz and Alex Chapman.
Doing Dialectical Behavior Therapy: A Practical Guide by Kelly Koerner.
I Hate You - Don’t Leave Me: Understanding the Borderline Personality by Jerold J Kreisman, MD, and Hal Straus.
Loving Someone with Borderline Personality Disorder: How to Keep Out-of-Control Emotions from Destroying Your Relationship by Shari Manning.
Borderline Personality Disorder in Adolescents: What To Do When Your Teen Has BPD by Blaise Aguirre, MD.
DBT for Dummies by Blaise Aguirre and Guillian Galen.
Mindfulness for Borderline Personality Disorder: Relieve Your Suffering Using the Core Skill of Dialectical Behavior Therapy by Blaise Aguirre and Guillian Galen.
No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma & Restoring Wholeness with The Internal Family Systems Model by Richard C. Schwartz, PhD.
Buddah and the Borderline: My Recovery from Borderline Personality Disorder through Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Buddhism, and Online Dating by Kiera Van Gelder.
Radical Compassion: Learning to Love Yourself and Your World with the Practice of RAIN by Tara Brach.
The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook: Practical DBT Exercises for Learning Mindfulness, Interpersonal Effectiveness, Emotion Regulation by Matthew McKay PhD, Jeffrey C. Wood PsyD, and Jeffrey Brantley MD.

The Importance of Awareness and Advocacy

Raising awareness about BPD is crucial to breaking stigma and ensuring access to care for those who need it. Advocacy plays a vital role in pushing for a future where everyone has access to the mental health care they deserve. This year’s theme - “Mental health in catastrophes and emergencies” - is a powerful reminder that care goes beyond food, water, and shelter. For those living with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), crises can heighten fear, instability, and emotional pain.

Personal Stories and the Power of Connection

Sharing personal stories can be a powerful way to connect with others and promote understanding. As one individual shared, "At 27, I never thought I’d be sharing this part of my life-living with Borderline Personality Disorder and battling alcohol has been tough. Some days felt impossible, and opening up has become the first step toward healing. If you’re struggling too, know you’re not alone." Similarly, another person shared, "Sharing a glimpse of what a day in my life looked like before I had the right diagnosis and treatment for BPD & OCD… Through treatment and the unwavering support of others, I’ve built a life worth living-and so can you. You are not your diagnosis. You are worthy, capable, and deserving of love and healing."

Resources for Navigating Life with BPD and OCD

Living with both Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) can present unique challenges. It’s essential to remember that recovery and support are possible. Together, we can create more understanding and compassion. 🌱 Living with a Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) diagnosis doesn’t mean you are your diagnosis. You are your creativity, your resilience, your humor, your kindness, your growth.

Financial Information and Transparency

Information about organizations like NEA-BPD can be found through resources like ProPublica, which provides access to Form 990 documents and Exempt Organization profiles. These resources offer insights into the organization's finances, including officers, tax schedules, and audits. Form 990 documents are available as XML files for electronically filed documents, providing machine-readable data for further analysis. This data includes organization names, addresses, and other relevant information.

Read also: Eligibility for National Awards

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