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BPD Awareness Week - What makes support effective?

puzzlingdinoSenior Contributor02 Oct 2023, 9:05 pm AEDT

BPD Awareness Week - What makes support effective?

This week (1st - 7th October) is Borderline Personality Disorder Awareness Week, and the 2023 theme is ‘Be The Difference: Principles of Care’.

To align with this theme, I was wondering if there was anyone with lived/living experience of BPD who would like to share insights into the care they have received, particularly regarding anything that has made or would have made their mental health support beneficial and effective? There can, unfortunately, be barriers to accessing appropriate care for people with BPD, and I feel it is important for us to advocate for how this can be improved.

Last week's Topic Tuesday that ran in preparation for BPD Awareness Week (Topic Tuesday// Borderline Personality Disorder Awareness Week 2023: Be the Difference // Tuesday 26th September 2023 5:30-7PM AEDT) did cover this topic, particularly in relation to the BPD Principles of Care (collaborative therapeutic relationship, trauma-sensitive care, working with family/friends/supports, recovery (wellbeing) focus, balance validation with change, and use a structured treatment framework), but I thought it would be good to provide an opportunity for insight from those who couldn't make it on the night or whose contributions may not fit within these six areas 🙂

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In response to: BPD Awareness Week - What makes support effective?

puzzlingdinoSenior Contributor02 Oct 2023, 9:41 pm AEDT

Re: BPD Awareness Week - What makes support effective?

Things that I have found helpful or would have found helpful in my journey with BPD (both pre- and post-diagnosis) are:

• Professionals providing validation, really listening to me, trusting the insight that I have into my own experiences, and facilitating opportunities for informed open dialogue surrounding my treatment

• Clinicians being open to providing other therapeutic approaches (within their scope and training of course) if their first approach has not been effective. This would help people access appropriate care even if they are yet to receive a diagnosis beyond anxiety or depression, for example.

• Visibility & promotion of the full range of options that exist for people needing mental health support

• More recognition of complex mental health conditions within the work of services/agencies e.g. health, mental health, government, etc. (Obviously SANE does an amazing job of this, but I would like to see it embedded more elsewhere too.)

• Clinicians having an appropriate level of understanding of BPD and being able to recognise it (or the possibility of it)

• Clear communication from diagnosis-making professionals regarding the presence of a diagnosis, what that means, and treatment options

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