28/10/2026
Given the degree of stigma that people with BPD face I totally agree with this article… what are your thoughts? Do you have BPD? Have you found that this impacts the way you are treated amongst mental health and other medical professionals?
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a controversial diagnosis that some psychiatrists have argued “no longer has a place in clinical practice.” The stigma around this label is such that mainstream clinical psychologist Marsha Linehan, leading BPD expert and creator of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (itself the target of criticism from trauma survivors ), advises her patients not to disclose their BPD diagnosis in order to avoid mistreatment from healthcare professionals.
A new article published in the International Journal of Mental Health Nursing argues that BPD is not a neutral clinical label, but rather a mechanism of social control that can be used to punish nonconformity, discredit lived experience knowledge, and silence claims of harm caused by diagnosis.
They write: “This paper contends that the BPD label functions as a regulatory category of social control, disciplining social nonconformity, trauma, gender and sexual diversity and culturally specific forms of emotional expression and relationality into a narrow hierarchical model of behavioural morality. Abolishing BPD as a diagnostic category is a necessary precondition for decolonising mental health, and for developing forms of care that are relationally safe and accountable, inclusive, culturally responsive, and just.”
A Problematic Diagnosis —
Women and LGBTQ+ individuals are more likely to receive a BPD diagnosis. According to the DSM-5, 75% of people diagnosed with BPD in a clinical setting are women. A 2021 study found that sexual minority service users and patients were 59% more likely to be diagnosed with BPD when controlling for factors such as age, gender, and PTSD. A similar study from 2024 found that transgender and gender diverse patients were 3 times more likely to be diagnosed with BPD.
Past research has linked BPD diagnosis to stigma and discrimination , including beliefs that BPD is untreatable, negative clinician attitudes, discrimination in crisis care, being denied treatment, being made to feel like a burden, and damage to self-image . People with this diagnosis have described the label as derogatory and pejorative . A 2022 scoping review reported that 58% of people diagnosed with BPD in their study reported increased anxiety due to discrimination associated with the BPD label, with 71% saying healthcare providers did not take them seriously.
Through the lens of “epistemic injustice,” which includes diagnostic labels discrediting the people who receive them, BPD diagnosis could be viewed as a tool for silencing women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and abuse survivors.
To read a critical analysis of BPD, click here: https://www.madinamerica.com/2026/10/is-it-time-to-abolish-borderline-personality-disorder-as-a-diagnosis/
[borderline personality disorder, BPD, decolonial, decolonization, feminist, feminism, epistemic injustice, iatrogenic harm, stigma, discrimination]
