We’re learning about mental health in nursing school right now and my teacher just said something so offensive about BPD and it made me feel so awful about myself. 

She was like, “Who are the most manipulative mental health patients? Personality disorders. They will come up to you all sweet and compliment you, but they always want something out of it. And they know they’re like that but they refuse to change.” 

How are you a nurse, or a teacher, teaching FUTURE nurses that may work with BPD patients this harmful and false stereotype?! We are already paranoid about being manipulative even if we aren’t being, and we feel extremely guilty for doing it if we do by accident. We are in emotional turmoil and it’s hard to communicate with people properly, we aren’t being malicious, we are trying to have our emotional needs met and don’t know how to do so “normally” a lot of the time. And if someone is being malicious, I feel like that’s more of who they are as a person rather than a symptom of BPD. 

There are enough harmful, shaming, and false stereotypes out there already. I’m feeling so hurt and ashamed right now.