This drawing is graphite on water colored pages from the Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM). It is the first of a series…

These particular pages are taken from the DSM section focusing on Borderline Personality Disorder. She is smiling very slightly, as her mind heals. It portrays a ‘coming together’ through increased understanding and therapeutic support.

According to NAMI, Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is experienced by 1.4% of the US population.

BPD is characterized by unstable moods, behavior, and relationships. It’s often misdiagnosed and misunderstood, leaving individuals and their loved ones, wishing they had known the diagnosis sooner.

Mayo specifically highlights:

• An intense fear of abandonment, even going to extreme measures to avoid real or imagined separation or rejection
• A pattern of unstable intense relationships, such as idealizing someone one moment and then suddenly believing the person doesn’t care enough or is cruel
• Rapid changes in self-identity and self-image that include shifting goals and values, and seeing yourself as bad or as if you don’t exist at all
• Periods of stress-related paranoia and loss of contact with reality, lasting from a few minutes to a few hours
• Impulsive and risky behavior, such as gambling, reckless driving, unsafe sex, spending sprees, binge eating or drug abuse, or sabotaging success by suddenly quitting a good job or ending a positive relationship
• Suicidal threats or behavior or self-injury, often in response to fear of separation or rejection
• Wide mood swings lasting from a few hours to a few days, which can include intense happiness, irritability, shame or anxiety
• Ongoing feelings of emptiness
• Inappropriate, intense anger, such as frequently losing your temper, being sarcastic or bitter, or having physical fights

Learn more here from Mayo.

Be kind to those around you.

You never know what struggles they may be facing.

Kindly,

Janessa