A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma

“We’re starting young” with fighting stigma: Jessie Shepherd on Millie the Cat

Why create a children's book about BPD? This is the second half of my interview with Jessie Shepherd, who is a writer, licensed clinical mental health counselor, licensed professional counselor, and director of Blue Clover Therapy. We talk more about her book for children and adults, Millie the Cat Has Borderline Personality Disorder, and muse on the power of children's literature to combat stigma and stir sympathies. 
Episode notes:
Jessie Shepherd, Millie the Cat Has Borderline Personality Disorder
The first part of my interview with Jessie
Charlie Mackesy, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse
Susan Stewart, On Longing: Narratives of the Miniature, the Gigantic, the Souvenir, the Collection 

“Every single thing we have to manage comes with a beautiful, positive opposite”: Jessie Shepherd

What are some of the gifts of BPD? Find out from an adorable cat named Millie. Here, I interview Jessie Shepherd—a licensed clinical mental health counselor, licensed professional counselor, and director of Blue Clover Therapy—about her book for children and adults, Millie the Cat Has Borderline Personality Disorder.
Jessie Shepherd, Millie the Cat Has Borderline Personality Disorder

“Shared experience can be really supportive”: Baylie McKnight of the BPD Society of BC

What kind of impact can a small organization make on BPD—in its province and globally? In this episode, I find out by interviewing Baylie McKnight, a co-founder of the BPD Society of British Columbia who has lived experience with the disorder, a master’s degree in social work, and a private practice. She tells me about the extraordinary efforts that the BPD Society of BC has made to expand treatment access and support in BC and around the world through online DBT courses, peer support groups, and other programs.
Trigger warning: The diagnostic criteria for BPD mention about suicide.
Please follow the podcast here or on Instagram so you don’t miss an episode: https://www.instagram.com/a.real.affliction.bpd/
Resources for this episode:
If you are having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources.
Website for the BPD Society of BC: https://www.bpdbc.ca/
You can find the criteria for BPD in the DSM-5 here: https://www.bpdfoundation.org.au/diagnostic-criteria.php

Countering stigma requires encountering stigma

Why do we need a revolution in the way borderline personality disorder is perceived by the medical field and wider culture? In this first episode of A Real Affliction, host Dr. Cynthia Gralla introduces the interview podcast and her upcoming guests, shares some of her experiences from her decades-long fight with BPD, and explains what needs to change if we are to better support people with this wildly misunderstood disorder.
Trigger warning: This episode talks about suicide.
Resources for this episode:
If you are having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources. 
You can find the criteria for BPD in the DSM-5 here
Ron B. Aviram et al., “Borderline Personality Disorder, Stigma, and Treatment Implications”
Caroline Walker Bynum, Holy Feast and Holy Fast: The Religious Significance of Food to Medieval Women
Anne Boyer, The Undying
Rebecca Byerly’s NYT article about a marathon runner with BPD
Georges Didi-Huberman, Invention of Hysteria: Charcot and the Photographic Iconography of the Salpêtrière
Sara Rose Masland and Hannah E. A. Peeples, “People with BPD Need Compassion Yet Even Clinicians Stigmatise Them”
Sara Masland et al., “Destigmatizing Borderline Personality Disorder: A Call to Action for Psychological Science”
Marie Ociskova et al., “F*ck Your Care If You Label Me! Borderline Personality Disorder, Stigma, and Self-stigma”
Christina Vanvuren, “The History of Hysteria: Sexism in Diagnosis”
Simone Weil, “Human Personality”

Trailer for A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma

The trailer for A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma introduces this interview podcast about borderline personality disorder and features clips from guests Ellis Amdur (a writer and psychotherapist), Jessie Shepherd (a licensed counselor and author of Millie the Cat Has Borderline Personality Disorder), Paula Tusiani-Eng (co-founder of Emotions Matter), Baylie McKnight (co-founder of the BPD Society of British Columbia), and Dr. Sara Masland (a researcher, clinical psychologist, and professor at Pomona College).