**\[This may be a strong story, so fair warning. I apologize ahead\]**  
I am a person without BPD. I had my first serious melt-down last summer and my family was scared for me. Melt-down led to shame the next morning. And shame led to paranoia the morning after. Curiosity led me to search our internet history and I found my husband was trying to find help for me. He looked up the wrong acronym. He was looking for Bipolar Disorder but instead he looked up BPD on accident which I think is an honest mistake. But this led me to do my own research (as well as the idea I may have it.. still not 100% certain on it still). So I started to truly learn what BPD is.

I knew a person who doesn't have BPD, but became a counselor and is very successful in psychology. She, however, had a family member she always had a hunch has BPD (the DSM criteria matched). This family member is extremely troubled and unhealthy. We aren't even sure if family member medicates, but they are very vibrant and outspoken on social media. No filter. Sometimes even writes posts to call out people for a fist fight. It is interesting. And sure enough one day this family-member finally let the world be known they were diagnosed with BPD. My 'counselor friend' rejoiced with an AH-HA! moment.  
And as much as I found this family-member to be interesting.. 'counselor-friend' became toxic about BPD.  


The counselor-friend would tell me to watch (**trigger warning &gt;**) self-harm videos their family-member was snapping of themselves. That this was all a game. It's for attention. And that BPD folks are the worst. She said they were the worst people to work with because they will never take full responsibility of their actions, won't grow up, and truly won't make the change to be better. To be honest, I always thought this was cruel.. And I admittedly feel bad because it also made me question BPD too.  


'Counselor-Friend' finally put her foot in her mouth one day at an eatery. She started going off negatively, OUT LOUD even, to her regular server before even the server suddenly exclaimed they have BPD.... Whoops.  


Since then I made online-friends with another woman who has BPD and they are a very beautiful person. It makes me really sad that 'counselor-friend' perceived BPD so negatively. Even the world.. It saddens me that there are youtube videos criticizing the symptoms. Or that people toss it around. I loved finding out this year that May is an awareness month for this disorder and I shared it around my social media. I think people need to be more conscientious of it. Since seeing a psychiatrist, I have been diagnosed with Bipolar II. But I am glad my husband's misunderstanding has led me to do some more research on this disorder and make new connections.  


You are all beautiful. You all feel so deeply. You are all misunderstood and that saddens me. And you are all brilliant people.