Story Pitch 2

So after some consideration, I decided to completely change my story to something that was more personal to me and better suited for me write about. Borderline Personality Disorder is heavily stigmatized and scrutinized in the media to the point where it makes it extremely difficult for anyone who has it to be open about the disorder. I was diagnosed with BPD in 2016. Seeing how people with BPD are portrayed in film and other media saddens me because it creates a stigma that people with this disorder are unstable, insane and dangers to society. In school, I was also taught this stigma in a psychology class. Coming from someone who lives with BPD, none of what they portray in the media is true or even close to what the disorder is actually like. In my story I am going to outline the ways film and media portray people with BPD versus what it is actually like and I am going to speak with mental health professionals to get a professional perspective from people who does not have this disorder. This is more of on op-ed style piece than anything because I will find and elaborate on media that portrays this disorder poorly (mainly film and television because it seems to be most prevalent in this sphere), I am going to give my experience living with BPD and how that combats from what the media tells us BPD is like and have zoom interviews with the mental health professionals that I mentioned earlier. I feel like Facebook and Medium will be the ideal platforms to display this story on because it reaches a larger audience and I will be able to write more on the topic. I am not necessarily just trying to reach my age because many people in my generation avoid mental health stigmas and a very aware of the stigmas presented in the media. That’s why Twitter and Instagram are not my first choice. I feel like especially now with how people are becoming much more cognizant and aware of mental health issues in our society, this story is relevant and important. Personality disorders rarely get the accurate representation they deserve which is harmful to people like me who have them. My intent with this story is to assist others in understanding the full extent of BPD without influence from the media.