Bold Beautiful Borderline

In this episode of the podcast you hear from Sara about her disordered eating history and journey to recovery. Here's some ED specific resources: Body positivity movement Health at every size National Eating Disorder Association National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders - free support groups This episode featured Laurie Edmundson who previously was a co-host of this pr...

Warning: This episode is hard as is very likely to be triggering to people who have experiences with disordered eating. Please listen with self love and take good care of yourself.  We have debated not publishing this episode many times as it is less about recovery and more about currently living with mental illness and actively struggling. It was the hardest episode we have ever recorded. That sa...

Sara is actively on her recovery journey from alcoholism, hitting 60 days of sobriety on the day this episode was recorded. She discusses her motivation to change, how she’s feeling now, and her goals for the future around substances.  Laurie has not found herself to have an addiction to drugs, but rather food and people. Instead, she is focusing on how to be a better friend to people who are stru...

If you live with strong emotions and/or borderline personality disorder and are looking for a community that “get you” the Super Feelers Club may be the perfect virtual place for you!  The Super Feelers Club is a free, inclusive, drop-in peer support group where we discuss skills, life as “super feelers” and connect with others like us.  Spots are limited so register today at:  https://superfeeler...

Guest to the podcast Alex shares his experiences living with BPD as a man working in a male dominated, stigma ridden field of work. He shares his reasons for not coming out with his diagnosis yet, his journey to recovery, philosophy for treatment, and the most important skill in his life.  Apologies for the audio quality, we are trying our best. This episode featured Laurie Edmundson who previousl...

Sara and Laurie discuss their experiences coming out with their borderline personality disorder (BPD) diagnosis to family, friends, fellow psychology students, and colleagues. Sara talks about the process of coming out as queer and how it relates to experiences “coming out” with a mental illness like BPD.  Laurie shares how coming out has helped her and others around her to really understand why s...

Medication has a time and a place in mental health treatment and recovery but there is no way to numb all of these emotions. That is not the goal of medication. There is no “anti-borderline pill” but medications can be really useful for treating symptoms associated with BPD like anxiety, depression, anger, racing thoughts, insomnia, etc. Combined with a healthy lifestyle, psychological treatment l...

Dean Edmundson aka Laurie’s dad is the guest on the pod this week to talk about parenting and the guilt associated with it, genetics, the second hand stigma of having a kid with mental illness, and supporting Laurie with her decision to “come out”.  He also talks about coming to terms with his own “mild borderline” and how Laurie’s journey of self-discovery led him to understanding more about hims...

In the final symptom specific episode about borderline personality disorder (BPD), Laurie and Sara discuss unstable self image. This can look like seeing totally different things in the mirror every time you look, impostor syndrome, or not knowing who you want to be from day to day.  Laurie and Sara discuss their experiences with only feeling loveable because you are loved by someone else, wedding...

In this episode Laurie and Sara discuss their experiences with self harm and how they have overcome this behaviour with more positive coping mechanisms that keep their bodies safe while their minds are overwhelmed.  Suicide and suicidality are also discussed in relation to self harm and how they are not as connected as people think they are.  This episode may be triggering. Society needs to stop p...

Nicole Taylor is the family member of someone who has BPD. She discusses her perspective of supporting her loved one, learning about the disorder and her own mental health, the importance of learning the skills and most importantly finding hope.  Nicole is the Founder and Executive Director of EmotionsBC. Her passion is to support families who have loved ones struggling with mental health challeng...

Laurie and Sara discuss the borderline personality disorder (BPD) symptom of chronic feelings of emptiness. Neither of them experience this symptom as a significant piece of their lives but they theorize that perhaps some of their obsession with success and keeping busy is to avoid feeling empty.  The conversation goes from healthy grounding techniques like movement to discussing obsessive compuls...

Guest to the podcast Slhalhyiót (Helena Paul) shares the experiences that led to her developing BPD (childhood trauma, sexual assault, colonization, loss of traditional language, and many other factors). As an Indigenous woman she knows all too well the impacts of colonization, assimilation and genocide and the intergenerational traumas that have led to many mental health challenges that many peop...

Laurie and Sara discuss their experiences in unstable relationships and how they have used dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) skills to try and have healthy relationships with open and effective communication.  The DBT skill DEARMAN is used in examples like: when mother in laws are triggering and when people say they are leaving their girlfriends for you but then don’t….   This episode also featu...

Between our black and white thinking, unstable self-image and relationships, and mood swings, fear of abandonment causes a lot of turmoil in our relationships. This can be friendships, romantic partners, and even pets! We feel love so deeply that the thought of being left causes serious distress. Laurie and Sara talk about their experiences with this fear and how it looks different in each of thei...

Dissociation (however you actually say it) is a coping mechanism that is often associated with past trauma experiences or intense emotional experiences. It feels different to everyone but is often described as “feeling outside myself” “feeling numb” “losing pieces of time” “fuzziness” or “running on autopilot”. While it’s normally associated with a way to deal with negative experiences Laurie shar...

On today's bonus episode, you all get to meet our good friend Mel who is a musician, mental health advocate, and a psychotherapist in training. Mel joins us on the podcast to tell us her story to diagnosis, her experience in DBT, and what she wants you to know about recovery.  You can find Mel on IG @squeezemymel This episode featured Laurie Edmundson who previously was a co-host of this proj...

Anger, Guilt, and Self-Hatred People often associate BPD with anger and violence which is not helped by media representations and BPD being a classified as a “personality disorder”. The truth is, while we may get angrier than most, violence and BPD are not always interconnected. Laurie and Sara discuss their experiences with anger and learning how to minimize it as well as the guilt associated wit...

One of the key characteristics of borderline personality disorder (BPD) are rapidly shifting mood swings. These last minutes to hours, rather than days or weeks as seen in other mental illnesses. Sara and Laurie share stories of what these rapid mood swings have been like for them and the people around them. Just like how rapid our moods may spiral this episode goes in many different directions, a...

Impulsivity is possibly the most fun and most devastating symptom of borderline personality disorder.  Be it impulsive sex, substance use, speeding, shopping, binge eating, or basically anything that gives immediate gratification in maybe not the most healthy ways... we’ve probably been there and done that.  But impulsivity it’s not necessarily a symptom we’d want to live without either! Being imp...

This episode featured Laurie Edmundson who previously was a co-host of this project. You can find her at https://www.laurieedmundson.com and on IG @laurieanned where you will find ways to access The Super Feelers Club and other projects she works on. Send us a text message to be anonymously read and responded to! Support the show You can find Sara on Instagram @borderlinefromhell. You can also fin...

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is often characterized in the media in incredibly negative ways. Laurie and Sara go through each symptom of the disorder and discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly about their experiences with each symptom. In future episodes they’ll go into more details and stories about each diagnostic criteria.  This episode featured Laurie Edmundson who previously was a c...