Borderline Personality Disorder and the experience of women's trauma within psychiatry: a service user perspective

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My research will examine experiences of trauma amongwomen diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD).BPD is a psychiatric diagnosis characterised by symptomssuch as fear of abandonment, suicidal ideation & behaviour,self-harm, stress-related dissociation and unstablerelationships (APA, 2013). It is estimated that 75% of peoplediagnosed with BPD are women (APA, 2013), while variousresearch studies indicate a strong association betweenchildhood trauma and the development of BPD in adult life.Battle et al (2004) estimate that 81% report instances ofchildhood abuse and 90% report neglect. One explanation ofthis is gendered stereotyping of the BPD diagnosis, withwomen perceived to be overly-emotional and attentionseeking. The negative impact of gendered stereotyping iscentral to feminist critiques of BPD diagnosis on the groundsthat it pathologises women's struggles and women'ssocialisation (Becker, 1997). In addition, currentrecommended treatment methods such as DBT (Lineham,2014) and medication (Hilger et al, 2003; Perrella, 2007) failto address the lasting impact of trauma, which may beessential to the aetiology of Personality Disorders (PD's).Sociological and service-user research suggests that voicesof BPD service-users go unheard, in part because mentalhealth professionals perceive people diagnosed with BPD tobe unreliable witnesses to their own experience (Nehls,1999). Significantly, negative, jarring stereotypes at work inthis judgement are found in the work of leading psychiatristsin the field of PD's, such as Peter Tyrer. His new book on BPDis titled: Taming the Beast Within (2018). The book, it mightbe said, is part of a general trend reaching from clinic topopular culture. For instance, a hugely popular 'self-help'book for loved ones of those diagnosed with BPD is titled,Stop Walking On Eggshells (Randy & Mason, 2010). The blurbreads: "Do you feel manipulated, controlled, or lied to? Areyou the focus of intense... irrational rages? ... If the answer is'yes,' someone you care about may have BPD". The problemof stereotypes related to a BPD diagnosis is summarised inthe words of a service user, Rowan-Olive (2018). She writes:"My personality is who I am. You cannot tell me my very selfis disordered and then convince me you do not want toreduce me to a stereotype.