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Why Suggesting Trump Has BPD/NPD Is Harmful To Those Who Suffer From It

As someone who suffers from Borderline Personality Disorder, I find it extremely offensive to be compared to that misogynistic, homophobic, racist, xenophobic, transphobic, sexist Cheeto. Yes, hello. People that suffer from personality disorders have feelings too and deserve to be respected. Instead of holding him accountable for his actions, you diagnose him with a personality disorder yet a lot of the people that do so are anti self-diagnosis.  Just because you have had a negative run-in with someone who has these disorders, does not give you the right to worsen the stigma. His childish, arrogant behaviors do not equate to a BPD/NPD for a full diagnosis.

“Not only are you adding to the already negative stigma of those who suffer from BPD and NPD, while we are framed as abusive and manipulative enough. Even worse, you’re comparing us to Donald Trump.”

Which is not to say that those who suffer from BPD and NPD cannot be abusive because they can be. The stigma that two people with the same mental illnesses act the same seems to hold a lot of weight in people’s perceptions.

A symptom of BPD is extreme mood swings, ranging from intense happiness to intense depression. Another symptom is suicidal threats or suicidal behaviors. How can you observe that in someone that is a public figure? Borderline Personality Disorder is an extremely serious mental disorder that should not just have the diagnosis thrown around simply because you don’t like his reactions or behavior. I, nor anyone else who suffers from BPD, acts the way he does. BPD is more than just being “attention seeking,” which everyone just seems to take and runs with it.

Narcissistic is a word that has been thrown around to equate to someone who is self-centered or egotistical. Those who suffer from Narcissistic Personality Disorder are much more complex than those who observe from the outside can tell. It’s not just ‘being full of yourself.’ Those who suffer from NPD also suffer from depression and other comorbid mood, eating or personality disorders as well as self-harming behaviors. It is not as though they asked to develop the said disorder. So why treat them like nuisances for what you do not understand?

Most personality disorders develop in a response to trauma, whether sexual, emotional or physical. If not, due to the environment such as an excess of something (ie. attention) or a lack of something (ie. parents being cold and/ or distant). BPD is more than just problematic books such as Stop Walking On Eggshells and all of the articles online that only add to the stigma and are not helpful to borderlines. People that suffer from NPD have to go through the same thing too. There are rarely any self-help articles, only those about ‘taking your life back’ for those who do not have the disorder.

You can be an ally to those who suffer from BPD/NPD by properly learning about the disorder and not just reading the symptoms online. BPD and NPD are much more complex and in order to learn about them, you would have to interact with someone who actually suffers from the disorders. Call people out on their wrong doings and educate them on what the disorders are and what they are not. Remind them that people can be inherently problematic without a mental disorder.

All in all, Donald Trump is just a bad person without a personality disorder. Diagnosing him just because you do not like him, makes you just as worse as him.

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