BPDFamily.com

It is my strong belief that BPD and recognizing BPD relationships should be part of teaching programms. It does not have to be deep and long but at least some awareness should be created.

People may forget over time 95 pct of what they learned, if they at least remember the name and some signals, they will nowadays continue their research on internet.

It would save a lot of time and drama.

BPD is is present in 3 pct of people. Assuming that BPD have many relations, the chance that a non ends up in a BPD relationship is much bigger. BPD is a very serious problem for society. Maybe as big as drug addiction and teenage pregnancy.

Yes ! I agree 100%! It should be taught as part of Health class. It would save a lot of drama and heartache for the nons. Also I read that a lot of Drs years ago didn't like labeling teens with the disorder bc they felt that they were still developing mentally and just went ahead and labeled them as being Bipolar. And that's why I feel a lot of people are walking around thinking they are Bipolar when they are actually BPD.  Mental health awareness should be taught in every middle school and high school from Grade 7 to 12.

Having been in one of these relationships from He_ _ I couldn't agree more, however to play Devil's Advocate, you would have a lot of people labeling others BPD. Unless they have been formally diagnosed that is a dangerous thing to do.

There is a stigma when it comes to mental/emotional illness. I would hate for someone to be shunned and it's something fixable. I do agree that BPD needs more exposure and clarification... .I thought it meant Bi-Polar at first. But formally educating about it in school... .eh (just my opinion, I am glad you opened discussion on this topic)!  :)

What I do believe needs to be taught is "good self esteem" not settling for less than the best. Many of our relationships were downright abusive. Had we been more confident with ourselves we wouldn't have put up with being treated badly. Most of this is environmental. We are shaped by our experiences, many that happen in our homes, outside of school. We have to remember... .it takes two to tango. This isn't completely our ex's fault. We took the abuse until we couldn't anymore and dumped them, or they dumped us.

I'm not sure about singling out BPD, but I definitely think that teaching about emotional abuse should be part of education!

YEs it seems that they should have more psychology in general in schools. People learn how to do math and science, but not how to relate and deal with other people. And general psychology things like BPD... .I had never heard of it before! It would have been so useful to know earlier!

I think at least a general overview of BPD, NPD etc. would be good for schools to teach, along with co-dependency. Probably good to include these in sex/health ed. classes.

I agree. Add the roles we all play out: hero, victim, scapegoat in families and relationships and why.

Sadly, being honest, even if I'd known about BPD I might still have thought I was strong enough and loving enough to fix my BPDex.

What a young fool I was.

Maybe coming at it from the other direction and teaching courses on family dynamics, mental health and healthy relationships might be a more positive way to come at it.

Let's face it- if we understood what healthy relationships looked like and how to set boundaries properly, we wouldn't have ended up in the relationships that we're here seeking support for.

Not trying to put blame on anyone, just trying to look at this in a way that empowers people rather than singling out and demonizing one sector of the population thats already very messed up and unhappy.

yeah, they should teach all the stuff in the "workshops" section here. i think the reason it's not taught is cos suddenly EVERYONE would have to admit they have experienced stuff like anxiety, depression, etc. just as with "physical health/ illness" everyone has something going on, even if it's just a sore back, athlete's foot, cavities, whatever. none of us has zero physical health issues. i think the same is true for mental health - we've all got some slight OCD traits, or have self-esteem issues, or have some trauma stuff, etc etc etc. i don't think society feels ready to deal with that head on yet. i think the myth that there's a few loopy people out there and the rest of us are fiiiiiiiiiiine needs to be clung to for a bit longer. i'm sure in future, these things will be taught in schools tho. once we're all ready to admit that mental health and illness is everyone's issue

Bravo, well said.