Borderline Living with Borderline Personality Disorder
This film is about a woman who has a Borderline Personality Disorder diagnosis. The first time she tried to kill herself, she was five years old. Now she is forty-five and hell-bent on trying to live - most of the time.
She reacts on impulse, attacks, distracts, meditates, offers social commentary, trips over herself, laughs, judges, burns bridges, makes social gaffes, apologizes, loses her cool, philosophizes and remains dogged in her search for recovery.
Official Selection at DOC NYC and the Portland Film Festival.
Running Time
88 mins
Year
2016
Kanopy ID
6647914
Filmmakers
Languages
Subjects
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Comments (10)
this person has BPD much more intensely than my ex-wife did. it's a sympathetic portrait, but please always remember that there are others on the receiving end, and their feelings are just as substantial.
Regina has reached a level of wisdom, that seems to me, to be reduced to superfluidity: "What would my death mean, if it didn't mean anything to others...". Well it would mean something to herself. And that has opened something of beauty, I hope.
I think this film is superb. The psychodrama between the two women on the voyage to Dr, Gunderson's, especially of the interplay between them in the car, and the enactments between them at the restaurant, exemplifies what it is so difficult for them, both. Its almost as if the unconscious ...Read more
I think this film is superb. The psychodrama between the two women on the voyage to Dr, Gunderson's, especially of the interplay between them in the car, and the enactments between them at the restaurant, exemplifies what it is so difficult for them, both. Its almost as if the unconscious scripts which they're both trapped within, can't be expressed, other than the manner in which their parents, almost destroyed them, both. And it is this acting out which others, in relationship with them, find so self-defeating, and brain splitting for those who try to be with them. Its as if the need from one party both wants the other person to be there, yet simultaneously pushes them as far away as possible!
Read lessI am enjoying this doco, in part, because it is well made and has the pacing to follow this woman's chaotic mood fluctuations, and because I self diagnosed with BPD when I was 27, in a therapy session with my psychiatrist/analyst. We decided that NO medication was the was to proceed. I'm now ...Read more
I am enjoying this doco, in part, because it is well made and has the pacing to follow this woman's chaotic mood fluctuations, and because I self diagnosed with BPD when I was 27, in a therapy session with my psychiatrist/analyst. We decided that NO medication was the was to proceed. I'm now a 63 year old man, living in a state of deep contentment. I became a Buddhist monk after my treatment, for some years. Borderline pathology is "borderline", as one lives, very much, on the border of deep neuroticism, and the edge of short term psychosis.
Read lessThis woman struggles to make each moment seem factually real, in a world that cannot stay in one place long enough, such that she can BE. I admire her resilience, and value her suffering, even though she may be quite a handful to love! Excellent documentary. Oh, and by the way, I'm an analytical psychotherapist these days.
Keith,
Thanks for sharing. Mindfulness tends to play a significant role in treating many mental health disorders, as you likely know. I am glad to know you have found contentment! I wonder if you've read the buddha & the borderline ...
Best,
Dawn
Dear Dawn, it's only taken 2,500 years for the West to discover mindfulness, and now you can't read anything else, which doesn't subscribe to the entanglements of "mindfulness". I haven't read the book in question, but I have read many others as I was conducting research towards a PhD ; ...Read more
Dear Dawn, it's only taken 2,500 years for the West to discover mindfulness, and now you can't read anything else, which doesn't subscribe to the entanglements of "mindfulness". I haven't read the book in question, but I have read many others as I was conducting research towards a PhD ; specifically, deep meditation experiences related to a western conception of self, in a Buddhist community. And there were monks, who had psychotic disorders, and associated pathological reactions to the adoption of full ordination, which meant roughly 275 precepts that covers how one walked; spoke; ate; used the toilet, etc, etc, and ALL of these precepts were designed to keep one's focus, on the 8 Fold Path, to attain nibbana, and thus be free from Samsara ; the continuing birth, death and rebirth of existence.
I would NOT support any form of depth meditation in someone whose emotional state appears as labile, for instance, as this woman. However, many people who have the condition tend to flatten out in their 40's, although, there is a strong adherence to self-harm (cutting), and other dangerous pursuits, and associations which can lead to death.
I shall investigate the book, whic you so kindly recommended. If I may, there is one that you might find of interest : Going to Pieces without falling apart: A Buddhist perspective on Wholeness by Mark Epstein.
My treatment was under the care of a psychiatrist whom was also trained in Self Psychology, which is an extension of British Object Relations, but developed by Heinz Kohut, an emigre from Austria, after the anschluss of 1938. Kohut was a neurologist, a Professor of Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis at Chicago University.
The treatment took roughly sixteen and a half years, usually twice a week. It was very painful, and I nearly went crazy twice, but the work that I had committed myself to, saved me. I missed two sessions in 16.5 years. So, I wanted to be well.
Thanks for your interest. Kindest regards, Keith
Read lessKeith,
Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment. I didn't know that those diagnosed with BPD tend to level out in their 40s; thanks for sharing that. I'm curious if that has to do with changes in the brain around that time? Or is it that that reflects how long it can take for ...Read more
Keith,
Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment. I didn't know that those diagnosed with BPD tend to level out in their 40s; thanks for sharing that. I'm curious if that has to do with changes in the brain around that time? Or is it that that reflects how long it can take for coping mechanisms and learned strategies to solidify?
I am curious as to why you wouldn't recommend "depth meditation" to someone with an emotional state such as this woman's. Is it because such meditation creates space for a significant amount of emotions to rise to the surface and that can create an influx of emotion which is not ideal in someone with a disorder also occasionally referred to as emotion dysregulation disorder?
If I didn't say it before I want to reiterate that I admire your fight for wellness. It so very easily can slip out of our grasps, as we know.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I enjoy your willingness to do so and find your course of study intriguing.
Best,
Dawn H.
Read lessDear Dawn,
Thank you for the kind comments. Perhaps, the best way to describe further my comments regarding 'depth meditation' would go something along these lines ; Depending on the level of integration of the sense of self that the person has, seen in terms of both insight regarding ...Read more
Dear Dawn,
Thank you for the kind comments. Perhaps, the best way to describe further my comments regarding 'depth meditation' would go something along these lines ; Depending on the level of integration of the sense of self that the person has, seen in terms of both insight regarding their own condition ; their ability to self-soothe to such an extent that they were not prone to fragmentation of the sense of self, and that they had sufficient internal cohesion to work, study, maintain a rewarding relationship, then depth meditation, principally that form of meditation undertaken by Buddhists, might be counter-productive. In fact, in might result with the total breakdown of the sense of the self, fragmentation, and suffusion of the person's identity, such that they would be unable to respond to therapeutic intervention, and would result in a short term, psychotic episode. I have seen this type of thing occur when I was a monk at the monastery where I ordained.
Buddhist meditation is extremely powerful, and if one hasn't the requisite integration of personality, it can unravel the latent, unresolved conflicts which many individuals suffering with BPD, display. The fact that the internal world of these people is often inchoate, chaotic, and filled with REAL and imaginary terrors, supports the claim, that until one is strengthened sufficiently in one's sense of Self, then the practice should be suspended. That being said, after I had completed my therapy I spent 3 and a half months alone ( except for two monks) in a Hermitage not speaking to anyone, and meditation up to 8 hours a day ; and the results were tremendous.
Cheers,
Keith
Read lessI have only watched two of these documentaries so far, Borderline and That Way Madness lies, andI found both to be startlingly original, moving, and instructive works. They deserve far wider availability and I look forward to exploring many of more of those. What a huge library service to ...Read more
I have only watched two of these documentaries so far, Borderline and That Way Madness lies, andI found both to be startlingly original, moving, and instructive works. They deserve far wider availability and I look forward to exploring many of more of those. What a huge library service to the public!
Read lessit is a great service, but i'm about to lose it < : (