Topic Tuesday// BPD Awareness– Flipping the script with a special guest from Spectrum// Tues 6th October,7 pm-8:30pm AEDT

[Former-Member]

@BlueBay Thank you for sharing with us about yourself and your diagnosis We hope that you will find tonight's discussion useful  

@Maggie Welcome to our event tonight! Glad to have you here 

[JulianSpectrum]

@BlueBay MBT is short for Mentalization-Based Treatment. It's tricky to some up briefly but it focuses on understanding the way our mind tells us how we think and feel, and why we do what we do. It also focuses on how other people's minds think and feel and how this helps us to understand why they do what they do. It's a therapy program that involves both individual and group sessions weekly.

[Former-Member]

 Let’s kick off tonight’s event with the first question:

What are some of the labels (positive and negative) you have come across in your recovery journey? And how has this affected you?  

@JulianSpectrum : How important is our self-view? How do you think self-perception can influence one’s recovery journey from BPD?

[BPDSurvivor]

Hi @JulianSpectrum , 

Great to have you on tonight.

Why are BPD services like Spectrum so limited? I understand BPD is a slow-moving condition and requires 12-18 months therapy to support change, yet if it is needed, why are there so few services Australia-wide?

BPDSurvivor

[JulianSpectrum]

In terms of how beneficial it is, there is a significant amount of research showing that it can help decrease many of the symptoms of BPD. Importantly, it has some of the longest follow-up research of any BPD treatment trials, showing that the gains made during this treatment are maintained for most people even after 8 years later!

[JulianSpectrum]

@Former-Member How we see view and speak to ourselves  is crucial, for all of us. The recovery journey is going to be more challenging if we hold on to a fixed view of ourselves e.g., I am unloveable.

Learning to compassionately understand ourselves, both our past and current experiences, is also vital in shifting things. It allows us to understand ourselves as people who have had particular experiences, in a particular context, and are shaped by this. That we have particular thoughts, feelings, desires, etc, that drive our actions, just like any other person. Rather than viewing ourselves in certain terms such as bad, worthless, needy, unloveable.

Exploring your self-perception is something that psychotherapy can help with.

[BlueBay]

Thanks @JulianSpectrum 

so is it different to DBT? 

I did DBT about 4 yrs ago but I'm still struggling. It was very expensive and emotionally draining  (One session with a psychologist fir 1hr and then 2 hr group session)

[Former-Member]

Hi there !  @Judi9877 @BPDSurvivor  Welcome to tonight's event   

[Judi9877]

For me personally, it's been the terms 'manipulative' , 'self-absorbed', for the negative words by hospital staff yet  'empathetic', by friends. 

[JulianSpectrum]

@BPDSurvivor That's a great question, though without an easy answer. I wholeheartedly agree that this is a problem. Treatment should be accessible for all who need it. I am aware that some states are in the process of setting up BPD specialist services so hopefully we see change on the horizon here.