What has helped you the most in your recovery?
Therapy & Medication
Therapies recommended for BPD are DBT and MBT. DBT focuses on mindfulness, emotion regulation, relationships, and coping with distress. MBT focuses on understand your own and other people's mental states. Other therapies are CBT, Schema Therapy, Psychodynamic Therapy, Arts Therapy etc. Peer support groups can help connect with others.
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Although guidelines do not recommend a specific medication for BPD, we may be prescribed medication for associated problems like emotional instability, psychosis, anxiety or depression.
“DBT was helpful, it gave me the tools to try and figure out what I’m really feeling/reacting to and understanding that it won’t last forever.”
“DBT and my current peer support group.”
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“I think I’ve been lucky with DBT and recovery college (with peer trainers). Self soothing and self compassion go a long way. Mindfulness of course.”
Education
Understanding ourselves can be a powerful tool in recovery. Although not everyone finds a label helpful, a diagnosis can be a gateway to helpful resources and ultimately ways of making sense of one's experience. By being aware of our triggers and why we react the way that we do, we can learn how to take care of ourselves, respond to our needs and communicate them to others.
“Figuring out cues for when my mood swings are about to flare and learning to give warnings and set boundaries. At first my BPD was heavily affecting everyone around me and damaging relationships. I had to find a way for everyone to feel emotionally safe around me.”
“Getting the diagnosis and self reflection has helped a lot. So does having a safe space to be in crises, even if the crises seems trivial - especially then, even.”
Relationships
Since BPD often develops due to invalidation and trauma, relationships can be difficult to navigate and might be accompanied by a fear of being abandoned or misunderstood. Open and honest communication with a partner (or anyone else) can be very helpful in alleviating these fears and establishing a secure relationship.
“What has helped me the most is couples counselling. Relationships are extremely hard with BPD so I’ve found that us seeing a therapist together helps us to manage things in a healthy way. But therapy and medicine have helped the most along with my support system.”
“I think exploring things, having honest conversations with my partner and learning to help myself more, to take a breath and be calm when people expect me to ‘blow up’.”
Hobbies & Self-expression
Recovery is individual to each person and findings things we enjoy can be a great way of expressing ourselves, dealing with difficult moments and simply making life with mental illness more manageable. Some people enjoy exercise, others like being creative, others find meaning in giving back to the community, the list goes on.
“Trying new hobbies and reconnecting with old ones helps immensely with identity issues and reducing dependency on other people. Also working on self acceptance & being proud of who I am.”
“My strong support network and lots of hair dye.”
“Volunteering / giving back to my local community - things that shift the focus from your internal self to external things like helping others is a huge help.”