Borderline Personality Disorder- BPD

Recovery from borderline personality disorder is not linear, it also doesn’t mean one is necessarily 100% symptom free. Things can get a lot better….There are evidence based treatments, which I have done and do. And they help. Healing is possible. But in my experience, that is different from a cure…very different.

I love this quote by Rabbi Elliot Kukla. While he does not have BPD and he speaks from his experience with trauma and chronic illness, I think his expression of healing as opposed to cure, can relate to many of us who feel shame for not being “over it.” Whether it’s in my case- BPD, or something else that cannot be “fixed.”

Rabbi Elliot Kukla says “ I sometimes feel shame for not being “over it” but trauma is interwoven into my bones and sinews as well as my neshamah( soul) and my relationship with God. There is no cure for the fabric of who I am. I chose to embrace the idea of healing as opposed to cure…healing integrates all the ways we are broken…whereas cure aims to fix.”

I see my BPD traits as part of the fabric of myself, and while I may not have chosen this, this is a part of my story, a part of me which I need to value, and care for with the kind of nurturing I require. To me this is healing, but not a cure.