Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is rarely highlighted in movies. When it is, in movies such as “Single White Female” and “Fatal Attraction,” it doesn’t portray people with BPD in a very good light.
Now, thanks to producers Bill Lichtenstein and June Peoples of the Peabody Award-winning Lichtenstein Creative Media, there is an opportunity for viewers to experience a genuine window into the world of Borderline Personality Disorder, minus the Hollywood trappings.
‘Back from the Edge’
“Back from the Edge” is a 48-minute documentary film that purports to be the first to feature stories from individuals who have lived with and recovered from Borderline Personality Disorder. In addition to varied and compelling firsthand accounts of the struggle to overcome BPD, family members of people who have recovered from BPD chronicle their own experiences with the disorder.
The film also includes interviews with five experts in the field of Borderline Personality Disorder research and treatment: Marsha Linehan, Wayne Fenton, Perry Hoffman, Otto Kernberg, and John Gunderson.
The combination of personal stories of individuals’ successful, hard-fought efforts to reclaim their lives, along with the perspective of experts, should offer encouragement to anybody concerned about the meaning and treatment of BPD.
Words of Hope
Of particular interest to family members of people with BPD are the words of hope expressed by Perry Hoffman, president of the National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder:
“Borderline Personality Disorder is often called the good prognosis diagnosis, and that’s because people get better. People recover from this disorder. They manage their lives in effective ways, they have children, they have careers.”
What many will find heartening is the candor and confidence expressed about a disorder that is so often misunderstood or stigmatized as a dead-end diagnosis. By offering personal histories and expert opinion, “Back from the Edge” promotes the idea that, with proper care, individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder can accomplish real and lasting recovery.
