09/07/2026
''Marsha Linehan in 2011 Acknowledged Her Own Struggle with Borderline Personality'' Dr. Marsha Linehan, long known for her ground-breaking work with a new form of psychotherapy called dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) shared her own personal secret — she has suffered from Borderline Personality Disorder. ©
In order to help reduce prejudice surrounding this particular disorder — people labeled as borderline often are seen as attention-seeking or frequently in crisis — Dr. Linehan told her story in public for the first time in 2011 before an audience of friends, family and doctors at the Institute of Living, the Hartford clinic where she was first treated for extreme social withdrawal at age 17, according to The New York Times.
At 17 in 1961, Linehan detailed how when she came to the clinic, she would attack herself habitually, cut her arms legs and stomach, and burn her wrists with ci******es.
She was kept in a seclusion room in the clinic because of never-ending urge to cut herself and to die.
Since borderline personality disorder was not discovered yet, she was diagnosed with schizophrenia and medicated heavily with Thorazine and Librium, as well as strapped down for forced electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Nothing worked.
She had an epiphany in 1967 one night while praying, that led her to go to graduate school to earn her Ph.D. at Loyola in 1971. During that time, she found the answer to her own demons and suicidal thoughts:
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) was the eventual result of this thinking. Her work with developing and helping people learn about DBT continues worldwide.
