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PODCAST

A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma

A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma is an interview podcast that explores how we live with, treat, advocate for, write about, and conceptualize borderline personality disorder, as well as common co-occurring challenges like complex PTSD, eating disorders, and substance use disorder, all of which I’ve experienced. My guests and I will also discuss how literature, film, television, photography, dance, philosophy, the history of medicine, feminist and disability studies, nature, and bioethics

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All Episodes

33:16

“You can't necessarily compare your trauma to someone...

A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma ·

2025/08/28

How does the health care system condition how we see our mental health treatment and diagnoses? In this interview—an excerpt from a much longer conversation—I talk with Samantha Dellosso, a social worker, health administrator, and friend of forty years. She and I discuss Medicaid in the U.S., viewing personality disorders along a spectrum, and how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) don’t necessarily determine who we turn out to be.Alexander Kriss, Borderline: The Biography of a Personality

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27:59

“I thought that mental health problems were something...

A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma ·

2025/01/15

Can recreational drugs be used to treat BPD in controlled environments? In this interview, I talk with Lucy Yanow, who holds a master’s degree in Bioethics and Society and formerly worked as a midwife, doula, and protector of reproductive rights. I ask her about her experience taking ketamine pills for depression and suicidality, but our conversation detours in rich and surprising ways. Lucy opens up about how her family’s history of suicide has affected her. She thoughtfully reflects on

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18:51

After Life and building a life worth remembering with...

A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma ·

2024/11/22

Would you choose to hold on to a bad memory for eternity? In this bonus episode, I explain how EMDR therapy and a rewatch of the glorious Japanese film, After Life, made me reflect on memory.Hirokazu Kore-eda, director, After Life (1998 film) American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.) Anne Carson, Economy of the Unlost Marsha Linehan, Building a Life Worth Living Viet Thanh Nguyen, “In Memoriam” Bessel van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the

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47:00

“A Vulnerability Artist Who Fights Ableism”: Dr....

A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma ·

2024/11/15

What does writing from the frontline of BPD look like? If the author is borderline up-ender Dr. Lisa Johnson, it looks and sounds like a witty, raw, and dazzling conflagration. In this interview, she and I discuss her memoir, Girl in Need of a Tourniquet: Memoir of a Borderline Personality, and share our experiences of navigating academia while being open about our BPD diagnoses.Merri Lisa Johnson, Girl in Need of a Tourniquet Merri Lisa Johnson, “Neuroqueer Feminism: Turning with Tenderness toward

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35:00

“He was provoking all these symptoms he had wanted to...

A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma ·

2024/10/01

How have power dynamics between doctors and patients changed over the past century and a half? In my second and final interview with Nina Shope, author of the award-winning historical novel Asylum, we talk about the complicated relationship between neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot and his most famous patient as he treated her for hysteria and documented her in photographs during the 1870s. Nina reflects on the photograph of Augustine that she chose to include in her novel, how she avoided flattening

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25:45

“I was fascinated with showing the things behind...

A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma ·

2024/09/15

What did BPD look like in the 19th century? It looked like hysteria, a phenomenon that puzzled doctors and fascinated the public. In this episode, I interview Nina Shope, author of the award-winning historical novel Asylum, which explores the power dynamics between Jean-Martin Charcot, the father of neurology as we know it today, and his most famous patient. In the shadows of this dynamic, we find symptoms and conceptualizations of female illness familiar to those of us who experience or study BPD

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25:18

"Insurance companies are breaking the law": Paula...

A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma ·

2024/09/01

How can we access expensive care? In the US, being diagnosed with BPD is often the first step in an odyssey through a complex and unjust health care system. In the second part of my interview with Paula Tusiani-Eng, co-founder of Emotions Matter, she discusses how to get life-saving coverage from your insurer, the wonderful success of her organization's peer support groups, the wild creativity that many of us with BPD have, and why we need an intersectional approach to treating and supporting

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14:45

What I wish I’d known about getting a PhD with BPD

A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma ·

2024/08/23

In this solo bonus episode, I talk about what I learned while getting my MA and PhD at Berkeley and offer tips for anyone who wants to pursue a higher education degree while managing their BPD. It can be done!

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32:11

“How do I meet other people with BPD?”: Paula...

A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma ·

2024/08/15

What do people with BPD need? When Paula Tusiani-Eng co-founded a BPD non-profit after the tragic loss of her sister Pamela, she realized that we often need more community support. In this interview, Paula tells me about Pamela’s struggle with BPD in the 1990s and how Emotions Matter has built a community for others like her.If you are having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional

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51:13

“I Love Us”: Melanie Goldman on living with and...

A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma ·

2024/08/01

In this candid interview, the radiant and loving Melanie Goldman (@mindovermelanie) tells me her story of lived experience with BPD, from the shock of the diagnosis to the joys of advocacy and reclaiming her voice. She also shares wisdom from her training as a registered psychotherapist and her ultimate goal of treating others with BPD.

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25:40

Is No Longer Human about BPD—and should we even ask...

A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma ·

2024/07/19

Can we diagnose the narrator of Osamu Dazai’s novel, No Longer Human, with BPD or some other diagnosis? And does it make sense to try? In this bonus summer solo episode, I give my perspective as a Japanese literature scholar and a person with BPD.Osamu Dazai, No Longer Human Osamu Dazai, The Setting Sun Roland Barthes, “The Death of the Author” Shirley Dent, “Don’t ‘Diagnose’ Fictional Characters” Jared D. Fife, “Stuff Psychologists Like—#1. Diagnosing Fictional Characters” Edward Fowler, The

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40:44

“These are like emotional, psychological Trojan...

A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma ·

2024/07/15

Can a stuffed animal help people to cope with BPD? In this episode, I interview American McGee, the celebrated video game designer and mastermind behind the mental health Plushie Dreadfuls line. We talk about his BPD Rabbit, metaphors and stereotypes, the connection between this bunny and the one in American McGee's Alice, the crowd design process, dark humor, and the controversy surrounding the mental health plushies. Plushie Dreadfuls website Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass George Lakoff

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25:15

“Folks with BPD Are Some of the Brightest Lights in...

A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma ·

2024/07/01

Who gets BPD, and are they likely to recover? In this second and final part of my interview with Dr. Sara Masland, she and I discuss the gender distribution for BPD, contemplate the prognosis for people with the disorder based on longitudinal studies (spoiler alert: it’s bright!), and consider what needs to change in medical culture over the next 5 to 10 years. Dr. Masland is a clinical scientist who researches BPD and stigma, a licensed clinical psychologist, an associate professor of psychological

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31:38

“The BPD diagnosis is an entry point to understanding...

A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma ·

2024/06/15

Why do we need a generalist approach to treating BPD? Because there are nearly 6000 treatment-seeking people with BPD to every certified, specialist clinician in the United States. In this episode, Dr. Sara Masland explains how she is helping to simultaneously reduce stigma and increase access to care by training others in Good Psychiatric Management. Dr. Masland is a clinical scientist, licensed clinical psychologist, and professor at Pomona College, whose research explores such topics as BPD,

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17:45

“We’re starting young” with fighting stigma: Jessie...

A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma ·

2024/06/01

Why create a children's book about BPD? This is the second half of my interview with Jessie Shepherd, who is a writer, licensed clinical mental health counselor, licensed professional counselor, and director of Blue Clover Therapy. We talk more about her book for children and adults, Millie the Cat Has Borderline Personality Disorder, and muse on the power of children's literature to combat stigma and stir sympathies. Episode notes: Jessie Shepherd, Millie the Cat Has Borderline Personality

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21:29

“Every single thing we have to manage comes with a...

A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma ·

2024/05/15

What are some of the gifts of BPD? Find out from an adorable cat named Millie. Here, I interview Jessie Shepherd—a licensed clinical mental health counselor, licensed professional counselor, and director of Blue Clover Therapy—about her book for children and adults, Millie the Cat Has Borderline Personality Disorder.Jessie Shepherd, Millie the Cat Has Borderline Personality Disorder

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33:00

“Shared experience can be really supportive”: Baylie...

A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma ·

2024/05/01

What kind of impact can a small organization make on BPD—in its province and globally? In this episode, I find out by interviewing Baylie McKnight, a co-founder of the BPD Society of British Columbia who has lived experience with the disorder, a master’s degree in social work, and a private practice. She tells me about the extraordinary efforts that the BPD Society of BC has made to expand treatment access and support in BC and around the world through online DBT courses, peer support groups, and

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23:16

Countering Stigma Requires Encountering Stigma

A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma ·

2024/04/19

Why do we need a revolution in the way borderline personality disorder is perceived by the medical field and wider culture? In this first episode of A Real Affliction, host Dr. Cynthia Gralla introduces the interview podcast and her upcoming guests, shares some of her experiences from her decades-long fight with BPD, and explains what needs to change if we are to better support people with this wildly misunderstood disorder.Trigger warning: This episode talks about suicide. Resources for this

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03:20

Trailer for A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma

A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma ·

2024/04/03

The trailer for A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma introduces this interview podcast about borderline personality disorder and features clips from guests Ellis Amdur (a writer and psychotherapist), Jessie Shepherd (a licensed counselor and author of Millie the Cat Has Borderline Personality Disorder), Paula Tusiani-Eng (co-founder of Emotions Matter), Baylie McKnight (co-founder of the BPD Society of British Columbia), and Dr. Sara Masland (a researcher, clinical psychologist, and professor

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19 results

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