BPD recovery: 5 things that help me.

I can officially say that I am in recovery from Borderline Personality Disorder. 

These past few months have been incredible and I have made so much progress. That is why I want to share 5 things that help me so they can maybe help you too.

My life is so different now that I started working on myself seriously. Things don’t throw me off anymore that often, and my relationships are so good that I actually like my family. 

I feel like I can fully recover from this illness and I can already taste what that is like.

Of course, I am not recovered yet and I still have the diagnosis. I struggle with things and at times I can fully feel the symptoms of BPD.

But I am doing better. Much, much better. It’s beautiful.

Here are 5 things that help me with BPD recovery:

• Back From The Borderline podcast.

I could cry describing how much Mollie has helped me in my recovery. She is an absolute angel.

This podcast (I briefly wrote about it here) is an amazing resource for everyone who meets the criteria for Borderline Personality Disorder.

Every week I am inspired beyond words to take my mental health to another level and truly heal from this illness. She goes fucking deep into every single symptom and covers it to perfection. 

Honestly, she is the reason why I even started my recovery journey and stopped feeling sorry for myself.

(Just a note to say that Mollie seems to be anti-psychiatry and anti-medicine currently which is something I strongly disagree with.)

• Medication (aripiprazole and quetiapine).

Depression and anxiety have been the biggest challenge to deal with on top of BPD.

Quetiapine helps me with anxiety, and aripiprazole helps me with anger and depression. As of right now, I am not yet ready to let go of medication but they are a nice touch to what I am already doing on my own.

There will come a time when I will have to stop taking them – and even my psychiatrist said they are not here forever – but the time has not come yet. 

• Mindfulness. 

You know how much I love the Waking Up meditation app and how crucial it has been in my journey of mindfulness. 

Well, meditation helps me sit down, focus on my breath and observe my cloudy mind. I can see that the thoughts that appear are not mine nor are they who I am. 

Mindfulness, the ability to just exist at the moment, has helped me immensely when it comes to anger and rage. 

• Workbooks.

I love me some workbooks, especially the ones about DBT and CBT (Dialectical Behaviour Therapy and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy).

They are great to do in the evening, to look back at what your day was like and how to start again the next morning. I especially adore how they guide you from simple exercises to more challenging ones.

• Nature.

You may think I am a bit crazy but I talk to trees. Yes, I communicate with the trees around me. 

No, they do not answer back and I am not imagining our conversations. Rather, I look at them and feel the wisdom radiating, so I open up my mind and just give them a speech about my struggles. 

Then I observe how they sway and bend but rarely break. Their poise and grace are inspiring to me. There is just something about how majestic trees are when the wind hits them but they remain calm and tall.

I can’t promise that any of these things will work for you, but they are helpful to me. Perhaps you can give them a try and see for yourself.

BPD recovery is a journey. A beautiful one at that because you are learning who you are and letting go of the pain, slowly every day.

We got this.

If you feel called to support my work, consider buying me a cup of cappuccino. It helps me greatly.

Tanja