QUESTION:
Dear Dr. Heller,
I have been treated for years for BPD, and I keep having relapses. My last relapse got me fired from my job as a security officer in a mental health facility. Some of the staff there made comments that borderlines belong in jail and not in the hospital. How do you feel about this comment.
ANSWER:
It was an offensive, uneducated and judgmental remark that gives insight into the staff, not into those with the BPD. I have many, many individuals with the BPD as patients who are upstanding citizens with outstanding character. Two work for me in positions of responsibility. The BPD is a medical problem! Those with character problems and the BPD are a huge problem, and often end up in jail.