With Mental Health being an increasingly mentioned issue in social
media recently, awareness is slowly rising for conditions such as Depression,
Anxiety, and Bipolar Disorder. The net hasn’t yet spread far enough for me to
have seen mention of slightly less known disorders such as Borderline
Personality Disorder (also known as Emotional Intensity Disorder), but also few
people have taken into account that longer term disorders such as BPD can also
bring positive outcomes. There are few, and they pale in comparison to the
negative symptoms which outline the disorder, but that doesn’t mean that the
positive effects should be ignored.
One of the negative symptoms of BPD is having a persistently unstable personal image or sense of self. It is common for BPD sufferers to regularly change the way they look, doubt their sexuality, and question the way they act and who they are. The positive factor this brings is a very specific type of personality which can adapt to situations and is often good at a wide range of tasks. A malleable personality may make it weaker, but it also means that every day there is the ability to be changed for the better, to be inspired, motivated, and to build a wide range of experiences.
This ties in with another positive outcome; intense passion. We may be overcome with emotions which seem uncontrollable and unmanageable, but when we are passionate about something, we will not lose that. We will be so passionate that we try as hard as we can, we care with all that we have, and we have the ability to truly give it our all. If you are the loved one of someone with BPD, then trust that you will be loved so deeply. If we succeed in something we care about, it will make us so happy that we will remember the feeling deeply for a long time. It may hurt sometimes, but intense passion is an incredible emotion to have.
Other positive factors include stunning curiosity and genuine interest in other people, the ability to sit and listen for hours as long as you have things to say, we will care. The ability to be spontaneous, to live in the moment, and to really feel the highs which life has to offer. Due to having experiences so much pain, we are deeply empathetic, we will never judge someone for having feelings and will never push down the importance of them. Some borderlines struggle with compassion because their emotional ranges are so different, but many, like me, can access such a massive bank of emotion that we can feel compassion in almost all situations.
The last two positive attributes I will mention (as there may be many more!) are two of my favourites. The first is the ability to be deeply creative. We have the ability to open our mind, to use our bizarre range of experiences and deep level of emotions to create in a way which others may struggle too. This makes us naturally good at the Arts, and creative careers.
The other is the ability to pick ourselves back up again. To know that things will get better, and to fight so much more than I think it is possible for non BPD people to understand. My mind is a tornado of pain; my symptoms literally include recurrent suicidal behaviour, chronic feelings of emptiness and nothingness, and transient paranoid thoughts. Every single day of my life. But I am still sat here writing this post.
I may have a personality disorder, and that may mean a lifetime of intense mental difficulty, but perhaps it’s worth reminding ourselves every now and again that with the hardest challenges come the greatest successes. And I am determined that my personality doesn't have to be a disorder, it can be a success as well.
One of the negative symptoms of BPD is having a persistently unstable personal image or sense of self. It is common for BPD sufferers to regularly change the way they look, doubt their sexuality, and question the way they act and who they are. The positive factor this brings is a very specific type of personality which can adapt to situations and is often good at a wide range of tasks. A malleable personality may make it weaker, but it also means that every day there is the ability to be changed for the better, to be inspired, motivated, and to build a wide range of experiences.
This ties in with another positive outcome; intense passion. We may be overcome with emotions which seem uncontrollable and unmanageable, but when we are passionate about something, we will not lose that. We will be so passionate that we try as hard as we can, we care with all that we have, and we have the ability to truly give it our all. If you are the loved one of someone with BPD, then trust that you will be loved so deeply. If we succeed in something we care about, it will make us so happy that we will remember the feeling deeply for a long time. It may hurt sometimes, but intense passion is an incredible emotion to have.
Other positive factors include stunning curiosity and genuine interest in other people, the ability to sit and listen for hours as long as you have things to say, we will care. The ability to be spontaneous, to live in the moment, and to really feel the highs which life has to offer. Due to having experiences so much pain, we are deeply empathetic, we will never judge someone for having feelings and will never push down the importance of them. Some borderlines struggle with compassion because their emotional ranges are so different, but many, like me, can access such a massive bank of emotion that we can feel compassion in almost all situations.
The last two positive attributes I will mention (as there may be many more!) are two of my favourites. The first is the ability to be deeply creative. We have the ability to open our mind, to use our bizarre range of experiences and deep level of emotions to create in a way which others may struggle too. This makes us naturally good at the Arts, and creative careers.
The other is the ability to pick ourselves back up again. To know that things will get better, and to fight so much more than I think it is possible for non BPD people to understand. My mind is a tornado of pain; my symptoms literally include recurrent suicidal behaviour, chronic feelings of emptiness and nothingness, and transient paranoid thoughts. Every single day of my life. But I am still sat here writing this post.
I may have a personality disorder, and that may mean a lifetime of intense mental difficulty, but perhaps it’s worth reminding ourselves every now and again that with the hardest challenges come the greatest successes. And I am determined that my personality doesn't have to be a disorder, it can be a success as well.
