I've known I have BPD since I was about 17, but my mental health has always been bad. I first experienced depression in primary school and it got really bad in secondary school around 12/13. At 15 I saw a child psychiatrist who didn't really seem to care, she just kept giving me anti depressants and ignoring me when I said I had other problems than just depression. Eventually at 16/17 she suggested BPD but didn't formally diagnose me. Then I moved halfway up the country and had to start again. Took 4 years to get therapy with a psychologist who really understood BPD and really believed in me. I did some intense therapy in 6 months and really worked hard at practising it outside of sessions. I finished last month and while I definitely don't feel like I'm "recovered", and I definitely still experience other mental health issues (I have PTSD and OCD as well as anxiety/depression/BPD), I read through the diagnostic criteria for borderline and don't think I meet it anymore. I used to be all 9 points, now I am only a few, but not severe enough to warrant a diagnosis anymore. With the stigma and all the negativity around being borderline I thought I was broken and doomed forever, but now I feel like I actually stand a chance at a ""normal"" life. I still have a lot of trauma work to do but I am so much better at handling my mood swings and I've finally learned some ways of self soothing. I am not perfect but I see so much negativity about BPD being impossible to recover from that I just wanted to share in case it helped someone feel a little bit better. It IS possible, no matter what anyone else says