Rethinking Borderline Personality Disorder

Beyond the highly stigmatized label and diagnosis

The term "Borderline Personality Disorder" often carries more stigma than understanding. In mental health circles, it might be the diagnosis most likely to make clinicians cringe. BPD has many connotations in pop culture… from accusing Marilyn Monroe of having BPD, to Girl Interrupted, and now TikTok diagnosing. But as with most victims of therapy speak, nuance has gotten lost in the process.

In our recent podcast conversation with Britt Frank (a licensed therapist who has both professional expertise and personal experience with BPD), we explored this misunderstood diagnosis from a fresh perspective.

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Upgrade to read the full post which includes:

• Why "splitting" isn't the problem—and what's actually happening instead

• The historical connection between the pathologizing of women's emotions from "hysteria" to BPD

• A compassionate reframing of suicidality that changes how we respond to these thoughts

The Problem with the Label

Let's start with something controversial: what if the entire concept of "personality disorders" is fundamentally flawed?

This is Britt’s current hypothesis. The current diagnostic framework suggests our personality is a singular entity that can be either normal or disordered—a binary that simply doesn't reflect human complexity. When we label someone as having a "personality disorder," we're suggesting something is wrong about who they are intrinsically, rather than recognizing that they may be adapting in unhealthy ways to difficult circumstances.

What if, instead of seeing BPD as a personality defect, we understood it as:

• A creative adaptation to trauma and pain

• A response to overwhelming life experiences

• A fusion of different parts of ourselves, rather than "splitting"

Britt suggests renaming the condition entirely… something like "complex trauma presenting as unstable self" or "complex trauma with features of impulsivity and depersonalization."

Was Marilyn Monroe Borderline? Or was she reacting to childhood trauma, and the extreme stress caused by unfathomable fame?

The Historical Context: Why This Diagnosis Exists

The concept of borderline personality disorder emerged from psychoanalytic theories in the 1950s, a time when our understanding of trauma, neuroscience, and attachment was far less developed than today.