Postitive Term: 'Fascinating' - interesting, engaging and charismatic.'Fascinating' - interesting, engaging and charismatic.
How has art helped you process stigma?
Making art is extremely cathartic, I'm so grateful for this new form of expression - it's one I'll definitely be utilising again in the future..
Artist statement
I was delighted to learn it was an effective way to express my feelings about the way the stigma & oppression associated with a BPD diagnosis has affected me.
Title: “Stop the Stigma”
Artist: Mez is a person living with BPD in Victoria
It has enabled me to express my negative emotions without physical outbursts of anger It has enabled me to express my negative emotions without physical outbursts of anger
Title: Resourcefull
Artist: Karen is a person supporting someone living with BPD in South Australia
Negative Term: "My BPD tells me I'm too broken to heal"
Postitive Term: "We can alter our self-image by rewriting our own stories and narratives with better endings" & "befriending your fears"
How has art helped you process stigma?
Stop intellectualising my BPD and start exploring my emotions and recovery journey in colour. It also is a great tool to assist in emotional regulation and self soothing, replacing old unhelpful coping mechanisms.
How is art healing you?
Reclaiming my own stories/narratives
Title: “Curious”
Artist: Sophie is a person living with BPD in New South Wales
It has helped me see there is more than one way to practice my DBT skills. When there is art within a skill, it makes it become something I want to try again. It makes me want to keep practicing the skill, or skills, and keep practicing art and being creative. Curiosity makes me look forward to tomorrow, and next week, and next month, and next year.
How has art healing you?
Shows people are not defined by their mental illness, or the stigmatising language that comes with a diagnosis.
Title: Highly sensitive souls
Artist: Rita is a person supporting someone living with BPD in Victoria
It has enabled me to express my negative emotions without physical outbursts of anger and helped me rethink and positively reframe internalised judgments on myselfI.
Title: “Unique”
Artist: Mahlie is a person living with BPD in New South Wales
Art has always been a lifeline to me. It has enabled me to communicate things I could not verbally express and “find a way in” to my emotions, feelings and ability to problem-solve. Art is powerful in transforming the soul and understanding our inner self.
Title: "Chameleon"
Artist: Chloe is a person living with BPD in South Australia
Negative Term: Attention seeking, clingy and dependent.
Postitive Term: Values connection, commitment and steadfast trust.
How has art helped you process stigma?
Often it is difficult to find the words to adequately express my experience. Art making has allowed me to engage with all sides of myself in an open and curious way, rather than seeing parts as bad or evil. It has helped to foster a greater level of acceptance for all of my experience.
Title: “Walking the Middle Path”
Artist: Elyse is a person living with BPD in Victoria
I am an artist and my making is perpetually aligned with my mental health and feelings around the stigma of BPD. My mental health provides a framework for my work to be made.
Title: "Achieving Peace"
Artist: Rhiannon is a person in recovery from BPD in ACT
Negative Term: Too intense, draining, argumentative, clingy, chronic relapse and attention seeking.
Postitive Term: Loyal, passionate, truth seeker, connection seeking, energetic and resilient.
How has art helped you process stigma?
My artwork has helped me block out all of the noise and focus on reframing the negative words used. Crossing out the words and sending them off in a balloon made me feel as though I myself had really let those words fly away into the sky while the sun in my art shines down exposing new positive language that I believe to be better suited to myself. I now look at this as a journey of self-discovery rather than there being something always wrong with me.
Title: "Overcoming borderline"
Artist: Laura is a person living with BPD in Victoria
Art has always been a way for me to express difficult emotions and I loved using it to challenge my own ideas of stigma and explore alternative perspectives, embrace a positive side to my diagnosis which I always felt shame about it. Art helps visualise the balance between positive and negative of BPD and explore it’s strengths, which is something I have never thought about before.
Title: "A journey of self discovery"
Artist: Claudia is a person with a diagnosis of BPD in Victoria
Negative Term: Too intense, draining, argumentative, clingy, chronic relapse and attention seeking.
Postitive Term: Loyal, passionate, truth seeker, connection seeking, energetic and resilient.
How has art helped you process stigma?
My artwork has helped me block out all of the noise and focus on reframing the negative words used. Crossing out the words and sending them off in a balloon made me feel as though I myself had really let those words fly away into the sky while the sun in my art shines down exposing new positive language that I believe to be better suited to myself. I now look at this as a journey of self-discovery rather than there being something always wrong with me.
