Borderline Personality Disorder and Advocacy

Abstract

Self-advocacy, the belief that individuals with mental illness could act on their own behalf and have agency over their treatment, has become a universally accepted principle. This idea has been supported by new nonprofit organizations, mental health professional associations, and government agencies that support reforms in the treatment of mental illness. Advocacy for individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD), however, is a relatively new concept in the United States. Efforts to empower and mobilize individuals with BPD are still in their infancy, but trends on social media and by BPD organizations demonstrate hopeful new directions for future growth. By reframing their stigmatized narratives and adopting a more empowering framework, individuals with BPD and their family members will continue to evolve as agents of change, affecting a myriad of initiatives at the individual, organizational, clinical, and policy levels of society.