Borderline Arts uses the arts to raise awareness of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) - a severe and enduring mental health condition. Through increasing understanding of the condition, we of course educate people, but aso break down the stigma surrounding it.
 

1% of the population have a diagnosis of BPD and 1 in 10 individuals with BPD die from suicide. Despite this, very few people know what BPD is or how to effectively support those with the condition. There is no charity in England that specifically raises awareness and reduces the stigma surrounding BPD. So we founded Borderline to change this!

Through our work, we aim to:

- Raise Awareness of BPD to the general public to help reduce stigma to improve attitudes to individuals with the condition

- Encourage social inclusion for sufferers

- Educate carers & professionals, thereby improving the quality of care and relationships for those with BPD

- Strengthen and enrich the local community through the arts

We are an awareness raising charity, rather than a 1:1 support service for those with BPD. We do not offer 1:1 support for people with BPD as such, nor offer therapy, but rather empower individuals with the condition to express their experience of the condition in creative ways - this not only helps to raise awareness, but also gives them a voice and a realisation that having the illness is not something to be ashamed of at all. This in itself increases their self-esteem and confidence and to feel validated and accepted in who they are.

Borderline Arts also aims to improve the quantity and quality of care provided for those with BPD by educating carers and professionals about the condition and how to help those with it.

In some of our activities, some of the people included are sufferers of BPD and some are not. This means that the level of social inclusion for them will increase not only with other sufferers, but also with the local community. The local community is then strengthened as people are brought together and work together.