Destigmatizing Borderline Personality Disorder: A Call to Action for Psychological Science

Abstract

Despite recognition that borderline personality disorder (BPD) is one of the most stigmatized psychological disorders, destigmatization efforts have thus far focused on the views and actions of clinicians and the general public, neglecting the critical role that psychological science plays in perpetuating or mitigating stigma. This article was catalyzed by recent concerns about how research and editorial processes propagate stigma and thereby fail people with BPD and the scientists who study BPD. We provide a brief overview of the BPD diagnosis and its history. We then review how BPD has been stigmatized in psychological science, the gendered nature of BPD stigma, and the consequences of this stigmatization. Finally, we offer specific recommendations for researchers, reviewers, and editors who wish to use science to advance our understanding of BPD without perpetuating pejorative views of the disorder. These recommendations constitute a call to action to use psychological science in the service of the public good.

Follow the money: Is borderline personality disorder research underfunded in Canada?

“…One explanation may be that BPD research is not “underfunded” per se, but BPD research grants are “under sought.” Indeed, there may be less researchers focused on BPD in Canada than those focused on psychosis or bipolar disorder, resulting in fewer funded grant applications and, accordingly, fewer funded grants. BPD suffers from particularly high rates of stigma within both academic and clinical communities, including inaccurate beliefs that BPD is untreatable and involves nefarious individual characteristics (e.g., Masland et al, 2022). Perhaps accordingly, health care providers have expressed the tendency to avoid treating people with BPD (Westwood & Baker, 2010) or perceive them as less worthy of care compared to other clinical groups (Servais & Saunders, 2007).…”

“…However, BPD is also highly stigmatized in the clinical and academic community. Many mental health clinicians view people with BPD as untreatable, manipulative, or less worthy of sympathy than other mental health patients (Ring & Lawn, 2019) despite a lack of empirical evidence for these perspectives (Masland et al, 2022). Further, pejorative, unscientific rhetoric about BPD permeates the academic psychological literature (Masland et al, 2022).…”

“…Many mental health clinicians view people with BPD as untreatable, manipulative, or less worthy of sympathy than other mental health patients (Ring & Lawn, 2019) despite a lack of empirical evidence for these perspectives (Masland et al, 2022). Further, pejorative, unscientific rhetoric about BPD permeates the academic psychological literature (Masland et al, 2022). Unfortunately, such stigma may interfere with sorely needed empirical attention on this population.…”

“…We also extracted information about the size of investigative teams and the extent to which research focused on each population of interest utilized clinical trial designs, as larger teams and more clinical trials may account for higher rates of funding in one group than another. Given the findings of Zimmerman and Gazarian (2014) and the high rates of stigma against individuals with BPD within the clinical and academic community (Masland et al, 2022; Ring & Lawn, 2019), we hypothesize that fewer funded grants will be focused on BPD than the other groups and the grants that are allocated to the former will receive less dollars than those allocated to the latter.…”

Maladaptive daydreaming, emotional dysregulation, affect and internalized stigma in persons with borderline personality disorder and depression disorder: A network analysis

“…reckless drinking, binge eating, unsafe sex) and self‐injury and/or suicidal ideation (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Additionally, a growing body of research suggests that persons with BPD experience discrimination and stereotypes (Masland et al, 2022), leading to victimization and elevated internalized stigma in this population (Quenneville et al, 2020). Diminished emotional regulation competencies, shame and alienation may, in turn, result in avoidance‐focused strategies such as escapism and maladaptive daydreaming (MD) (Greene et al, 2020) to detach oneself from the suffering experienced.…”