The Freedom in Our Right to Choose
Back in 2017, my ex-girlfriend got married. This was the start of a dark period of my life. When it happened, there were many people who did not know about the relationship. At the time, I was not open with everyone about my sexuality. So when things started to spiral...
LGBTQ+ BPD Pride: Discovering Your Unique Superpower
It is LGBTQ+ Pride Month! We all know that pride month celebrates all of the amazing people who are LGBTQ+, and recognizes the positive impact that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and other individuals have had on history. Heritage of Pride is the nonprofit...
True To Me
I had my first crush on a boy that I met in preschool. I was fixated on that kid until middle school, when the pool of candidates widened dramatically and I found another boy to fill my daydreams. Middle school was also where I was first introduced to the idea...
BPD and Asexuality
Happy Pride Month! In June, we take extra care to celebrate those of us who identify as members of the LGBTQIA+ community. I am here to share a piece of my story that I hope will leave some readers feeling a little more seen than ever before. I’ll be inviting you into...
Overcoming the Emotional Takeover
In thinking about classic BPD symptoms like emotion dysregulation, I felt it might be a good time to once again touch on a tool that was crucial to my teen years and early 20s, crisis after crisis. The DBT TIPP skills are tried and true in-the-moment de-escalation...
Living the Symptoms: Part III: My Tools for My Symptoms
It is difficult to learn new skills and very difficult to actually put them into practice when you have chronic and severe emotion dysregulation. It takes a courageous and “I’ll never give up” attitude. When I realized the chaos and pain could actually lessen for me...
Living the Symptoms: Part II: Two Categories of Strategies
Once I was diagnosed, the first thing I had to do was accept that, as a person with BPD or chronic and severe emotion dysregulation, my symptoms are going to cause me to feel intense emotional pain. My brain is built that way and I don’t know how to stop my brain or...
Living The Symptoms, Part I: How I Experience My Symptoms
Trigger Warning: the following blog contains material which could be experienced as triggering difficult and painful thoughts and feelings. Please read with caution and consult with a professional clinician as needed. You’ve heard of the nine symptoms and know that,...
Our Experience with Substance Abuse Support Groups
What are the benefits of sharing your story about substance misuse with others? Saadia: You get to shake off the shame that comes from thinking that you are the only one to struggle with something. I like the saying: “You’re as sick as your secrets.” You will be...
Drunk Goggles
Warning: The following contains mentions of alcohol that may be triggering to some audiences. When I took drivers’ ed, we passed around a pair of “drunk goggles” that supposedly simulated the effect of alcohol on perception. The blurry, kaleidoscope-y visual sent a...
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