Why are we sharing these stories?
The diagnosis of personality disorder can hide the experiences and trauma that contribute to distress
As far back as 1989, the American Journal of Psychiatry found that 81% of patients given the diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder reported experiencing severe child abuse before the age of seven. The team leading the study suggested people instead be given the diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, a term that acknowledges the role of traumatic experiences as the root of distress.
Since then, people have continued to speak out about this diagnosis. In recent years a Guardian article gathered together experiences of women who reported stigma after receiving the diagnosis, and even hiding abuse and sexual violence for fear of being given the label – of being considered ‘disordered’, and dismissed.
The same year, a study showed that victims considered as having ‘mental health issues’ were far less likely to be believed within the criminal justice system – compounding fear of speaking out (11 Walker S-JL, Hester M, McPhee D, et al. Rape, inequality and the criminal justice response in England: The importance of age and gender.)
These are just a few examples of warnings raised around this diagnosis; more are cited at the bottom of this page, but the most compelling evidence will always come from the words of people who have received this diagnosis.
Gathering the evidence for change
Today, people (most frequently women) that exhibit distress rooted in trauma are still given the diagnosis that sits within the category of ‘Personality Disorder.’ The diagnostic criteria for personality disorders include feeling strong emotions of rage, sorrow, shame, panic, terror, or emptiness and loneliness. (NHS website: Symptoms – Borderline personality disorder – NHS). But these are also natural and expected reactions to severe distress and trauma, and as such they overlap heavily with the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress.
We need be asking: why are we continuing to give people a diagnosis that suggest they are ‘disordered,’ rather than considering their past experiences? And is doing so preventing people from understanding their distress or exploring relevant treatment?
Through the Truth Project, we want to try and hear the stories that the label of ‘Personality Disorder’ can hide; to move from asking ‘what is wrong with you?’ to ‘what have you experienced?’. Through these stories, we see the experiences that have contributed to people’s distress, how trauma has been understood by the medical system when help has been sought, and what effect being given the diagnosis of a ‘disordered personality’ has had on people in later life.
The Personality Disorder area of the Truth Project is part of Platfform’s contribution to the ongoing work of individuals, activists, academics, psychologists, psychiatrists, researchers and organisations that have called for the use of this diagnosis to be reviewed.
urther reading:
Briefing on ‘Personality Disorder’ and the labelling of survivors of abuse and violence – Platfform
Review of use of dx PD – Psychologists for Social Change
You may be interested in
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Share your story: the diagnosis of personality disorder
Platfform has been campaigning to have the use of the diagnosis in Wales reviewed. We want to make space for people’s stories to be heard within those calls for change.
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Stories from: The diagnosis of personality disorder
This diagnosis doesn’t tell us the full story – or the reasons behind people’s distress.
In these stories from within the medical system, people share their first-hand experiences, their lives after diagnosis, and the stories that the label can’t tell us.
