Looking after ourselves
Hello people in Carers Forum Land. I've never ventured over here from the lived experience forum and I'm feeling all shy. However, this article landed in my inbox this morning and I thought it would be of interest over here. I don't actually have any family or friends myself, but I know that carers do an amazing job in supporting those that they love. If anyone here does happen to feel like adopting someone with Borderline Personality Disorder, I'm open to it. I mean, what could be more fun than having someone (or another someone) with BPD in your life! 
Here's the link to the article: http://theconversation.com/heres-how-much-it-would-cost-the-government-to-pay-everyone-who-takes-car...
Hi @Former-Member
Sorry for the belated response. I’m working at not spending too much time on the forums because I know I have a propensity to get hooked on online sites. I am very impressed that you are open to adopting someone with BPD – you must be one of those very rare and special individuals who don’t hold negative stigmatizing views against us “borderlines.” 
You asked me to tell you a little about myself. Hmmm…where to begin…ok, here goes…
I am a 39 year old woman who was diagnosed with BPD in 1996. Since that time, I have had 40+ psychiatric admissions and now I struggle with very significant trauma issues, which are related to my experiences in the mental health system more than to the icky abuse stuff that was the genesis of my muddle. Consequently, I am passionate about reform in the mental health system and ESPECIALLY breaking down the stigmatizing attitudes that so many mental health professionals hold towards people with BPD.
From 1999 – 2015 I was in a “complex” relationship with my psychologist. That relationship eventually ended in a final major event which involved bystanders calling police. My uni counsellor, who I got along super well with, then spent weeks looking for a new psychologist for me. She finally found a good match…and then that psychologist closed her practice five months later. I then spent all of last year therapist shopping and in January of this year I FINALLY settled with therapist-take-nine (yes, NINE). Therapist take-one is the one who closed her practice, and then there is an icky story attached to each of therapists 2-8. Thus my brain is now kind-of fried. 
Hmmm…what else…well I sued a church where I was abused, I’ve had four restraining orders taken out against me but I can’t clearly articulate to you why (as in I don’t know, not that I don’t want to), I graduated from a psychology degree with first class honours…but am on the disability pension without much hope of ever getting off it – a source of overwhelming grief and despair for me, my parents are both deceased and my siblings and I went our separate ways when mum died twelve years ago, I’ve had two major workplace incidents (hence why I’m on the DSP), and three years ago I was formally diagnosed with autism after figuring out for myself that the BPD label alone simply couldn’t explain all the muddiness of my muddle. Um…that’s all I can think of right now. Oh yeah, one other tiny detail, if you sneak over to the lived experience forum you will see that I self-identify as a sea turtle.
So, that’s me…how about you??? I’ll keep an eye out for those adoption papers in the mail.
Hi @Former-Member,
Sorry for the delayed response. I'm working at not spending too much time on the forums. I think they are a super awesome resource...but you can definitely have too much of a good thing!
I have been reflecting on your question and the reality is that due to an extremely challenging 18 months, I'm in such a muddle, I don't quite know who I am or what sorts of things I enjoy. This is a big part of my puzzle. For twelve years my degree consumed most of my time and energy and I held the identity of being a psychology student. Now I'm feeling terribly lost.
I definitely feel more comfortable with animals than with people. I also love any sort of water; rivers, lakes, the ocean...being near water helps me to feel super calm. Um...what else...I'm learning the violin - that also helps me to feel super calm. So basically...you asked what interests I have outside of mental health and the reality is that actually, everything in my world right now is part of Operation Stay Alive. Everything I do is centered around what helps me to feel calm. But that's ok. Hopefully sometime soon the calm feeling become more the norm rather than something I have to work super hard at, and then I will find some new adventures to have.
