{"store":{"baseInfo":{"podcastTitle":"A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma","slug":"arealafflictionbpdcultureandstigma","podcastDescription":"A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma is an interview podcast that explores how we live with, treat, advocate for, write about, and conceptualize borderline personality disorder, as well as common co-occurring challenges like complex PTSD, eating disorders, and substance use disorder, all of which I’ve experienced. My guests and I will also discuss how literature, film, television, photography, dance, philosophy, the history of medicine, feminist and disability studies, nature, and bioethics reflect, illuminate, and impact the experience and cultural perceptions of BPD. The podcast’s goal is to increase access to effective, compassionate care. Episodes are released twice a month.","podcastLogo":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/18418731/Podcast_cover-1400x1400_tdghnp.jpg","podcastShareLogo":"https://d2bwo9zemjwxh5.cloudfront.net/image-logo/18418731/Podcast_cover-1400x1400_tdghnp_1200x628.jpg?s=c2c53adc24953b40066de19c7b295e12&e=jpg","podcastUrl":"https://arealafflictionbpdcultureandstigma.podbean.com","podcastCanSearched":true,"feedUrl":"https://feed.podbean.com/arealafflictionbpdcultureandstigma/feed.xml","theme":"elegant","podcastDeepLink":"https://www.podbean.com/pw/pbblog-d6y7f-1190c2b?from=usersite","removePodbeanBranding":"no","brandingLogo":null,"timeZone":{"timeZoneId":5,"gmtAdjustment":"GMT-08:00","useDaylightTime":1,"value":-8,"text":"(GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)","daylightStartTime":"Second Sunday Of March +2 Hours","daylightEndTime":"First Sunday Of November +2 Hours","timezone":"America/Los_Angeles"},"podcastDownloads":null,"totalEpisodes":26,"showComments":true,"iOSAppDownloadLink":null,"customizeCssUrl":null,"androidAppDownloadLink":null,"showPostShare":true,"showLike":true,"author":"Cynthia Gralla","enableEngagementStats":true,"shareEmbedLink":"https://admin5.podbean.com/embed.html?id=pbblog-d6y7f-1190c2b-playlist","language":"en","sensitivitySessionExpireTime":3600,"podcastApps":[{"name":"Apple Podcasts","link":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-real-affliction-bpd-culture-and-stigma/id1739674375","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/apple-podcast.png","title":null},{"name":"YouTube","link":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXQNSYJ4f-2pje23hUCMm8g","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/youtube_logo.png","title":null},{"name":"Podbean App","link":"https://www.podbean.com/pw/pbblog-d6y7f-1190c2b?from=usersite","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/podbean-app.png","title":null},{"name":"Spotify","link":"https://open.spotify.com/show/5N6vygNshyYhwSkeIsGcmU","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/spotify.png","title":null},{"name":"Amazon Music","link":"https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/0c7125ee-859c-41c7-ab76-6937ab724300","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/AmazonMusic.png","title":null},{"name":"TuneIn + Alexa","link":"https://feed.podbean.com/arealafflictionbpdcultureandstigma/feed.xml","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/tunein.png","title":null},{"name":"iHeartRadio","link":"https://iheart.com/podcast/165695803","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/iHeartRadio.png","title":null},{"name":"PlayerFM","link":"https://player.fm/series/3567333","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/PlayerFM.png","title":null},{"name":"Listen Notes","link":"https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/a-real-affliction-bpd-culture-and-stigma-Z_dRAlU63xW/","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/ListenNotes.png","title":null},{"name":"Podchaser","link":"https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/a-real-affliction-bpd-culture-5678088","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/Podchaser.webp","title":null},{"name":"BoomPlay","link":"https://www.boomplaymusic.com/podcasts/95628","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/BoomPlay.png","title":null}],"components":{"base":[{"id":"MainStyle","val":"light"},{"id":"Font","val":"Avenir"},{"id":"SecondaryFont","val":"Avenir"},{"id":"PlayerColor","val":"#8fc31f"},{"id":"PlayerStyle","val":"player1"},{"id":"PlayerWave","val":"show"},{"id":"Favicon","val":null},{"id":"CookiesNotice","val":"hide"},{"id":"CookiesNoticeContent","val":"

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A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma

My line-up of guests includes Jessie Shepherd, author of Millie the Cat Has Borderline Personality Disorder; Dr. Sara Masland, a leading researcher of BPD and how stigma creates barriers to care; Paula Tusiani-Eng and Baylie McKnight, co-founders of Emotions Matter and the BPD Society of British Columbia, two non-profits supporting people with the disorder; videogame designer and mental health Plushie Dreadfuls creator American McGee; Dr. Alexander Kriss, author of Borderline: The Biography of a Personality Disorder; super-advocate and BPD Bunch cast member Melanie Goldman (@mindovermelanie); Dr. Merri Lisa Johnson, author of Girl in Need of a Tourniquet: Memoir of a Borderline Personality; Mishell Baker, author of Borderline, part of the Arcadia Project fantasy trilogy; Courtenay Stallings, author of Laura’s Ghost: Women Speak About Twin Peaks; Nina Shope, author of Asylum, a historical novel about 19th-century hysteria; psychotherapist Ellis Amdur; and bioethics expert Lucy Yanow. I also do solo episodes about diaries written by women with BPD, getting a postsecondary degree with BPD, and No Longer Human.

If you have experience or expertise that would fit the podcast’s focus and would like to be interviewed, please feel free to reach out to me at cynthiagrallabooks@gmail.com.

I'm a writer and teacher with a history of BPD, and I'm currently writing a cultural critique of the disorder. I'm the author of The Floating World (Ballantine) and The Demimonde in Japanese Literature (Cambria Press), and my work will appear in the forthcoming Best Canadian Essays 2026 anthology (Biblioasis). I've published fiction and nonfiction in Ploughshares, Michigan Quarterly Review, Mississippi Review, Salon, Electric Literature, Prairie Fire, and many other publications. I earned a PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of California, Berkeley, and I teach literature, academic writing, and interdisciplinary writing at Royal Roads University and the University of Victoria.

Connect with me

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In this solo bonus episode, I talk about what I learned while getting my MA and PhD at Berkeley and offer tips for anyone who wants to pursue a higher education degree while managing their BPD. It can be done!

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