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Self-Portrait of a BPD

July 23, 2012

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Borderline Personality Disorder Victim says they have no choice. Blames single mother family.


"It is often a shock when I take a restroom break and see a middle-aged man staring back at me in the mirror."


"If we can't love it's because we were never loved. If we can't have a meaningful relationship it's because we never witnessed any such thing during our childhoods.

Most of our efforts are used up trying to subsume our despair and rage so we can survive and you "normal people" can safely go about your happy lives unmolested."



by C
(henrymakow.com)



I am a 38-year-old bartender/waiter - I live on minimum wage plus tips. I've worked in over fifteen restaurants, bars, and hotels during my career and (not to toot my own horn) am pretty good at what I do. However, I have major problems with keeping track of multiple long-term tasks which has made my few forays into restaurant management untenable. I have found that I'm better at short-term tasks than long-term, and that I need to leave my work at work.

I also seem most comfortable around servers probably because they are in their late teens and early twenties (remember what Rosie said about BPD's emotional immaturity). It is often a shock when I take a restroom break and see a middle-aged man staring back at me in the mirror.

Also, as I mentioned, I have many masks. I wear my happy-go-lucky mask to work and can convince myself that I'm twenty again and that everything's fine. It's rough when I run into someone I've known for years and they say "you're still serving?"

What little savings I had went into my university degree, and I am somewhat proud of the fact that I've never collected EI or a welfare check. But I'm almost 40, I live in a bachelor's suite, and I definitely can't do this indefinitely.

The recognition of my own BPD traits came after I suspected my mother was BPD or Narcissist (she had mirrors on every wall of her apartment). I read a series of books such as Toxic Parents, Surviving the Borderline Parent, and The Borderline Mother, and identified many of those traits not only in my mother, but also in myself.

I've taken the BPD criteria from the wikipedia article and fit most of them.

WE DON'T HAVE A CHOICE

I want to give your readers some more food for thought - especially those who believe we have a "choice" in our behavior and those who naively believe "demonic forces" are at work.

Imagine you were raised in a dysfunctional home and the only adult in your life other than teachers was a batshit crazy mother. You have no father, no uncles, no aunts, and no grandparents - no relationship to pattern future relationships after, no one to rescue you from the abuse you encounter at home, and no one to validate your feelings of terror, shame, and utter helplessness.

Furthermore, your mother can't hold a job for more than a few months and you live in abject poverty up to the age of eighteen. You got your first job at 15 bussing tables at a local restaurant, but most of that money is siphoned off to pay down your mother's bills and to pay for rent and food. It's hard to get up for classes that start at 8 AM when you leave work at 2 AM. You eventually start working full time, and never graduate from high school. You remain in the restaurant industry into your late thirties.

Your mother interferes with every romantic relationship you ever have as a teenager. The more you like the girl, or the prettier she is, the more your mother makes you second-guess her.

"Besides", she says, "you should save your virginity for marriage." You remain a virgin until you're 24 - when some of your friends are starting to get married. Now, in your late thirties, the majority of those friends you had in high school are married with children and respectable careers. You, however, are alone. Terribly alone.

It is only after you move away from your home town at 27 that you start to get ideas that things were worse than you ever imagined they were - there is a correlation between not having a phone and not being depressed.

 It takes you a few years to realize that every time you speak with the only adult that's been present throughout your life - your mother - you descend into a depressive spiral that can last for months. You try to sever contact many, many times until eventually, thanks to a heap of self-help book about personality disorders, you succeed.

Then, as soon as you feel you can breathe easier come God's words, "Thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother", and the guilt sets in, followed by another lengthy depression. You have abandoned your poor old mother. Catch 22. Thanks to your mother and almighty God.

You return to University to attempt to attain a respectable career. You have a fairly high GPA, and your profs compliment you on your writing ability and your insightful essays. You volunteer, and feel more rewarded by your free labor than that which you're paid for.

 However, your profs notice that you only attend about a third of the classes. Of course, that's because some days you can barely get out of bed because of the guilt, the depression, and the shame of what you are. You promise to volunteer, and then you don't show. You're bright, you've got a great GPA, but everyone knows you're unreliable. Society hedges you in.

The greatest thing about you, however, is your ability to maintain the facade that everything's going great. You've got a lot of masks in your closet, one for every occasion. You're the center of the party, a real ladies' man. You can seduce the best of them. But you awake empty and alone every morning.

So, late one night whilst listening to an old sermon by a long-dead Alliance preacher, you fall to the kitchen floor in tears and renounce all the whoring and drinking - and lose all those acquaintances you thought were your friends. After a year of church-hopping (and discovering just how much the God of the Christian religion resembles your mother), you instead turn to coffee, cigarettes, and video games for distraction from your abysmal failure at life.

You realize every time you see (say) a father tousle his son's hair, two parents waiting expectantly for their child to get out of class on a Friday evening so they can go to the cabin for the weekend, or a an old couple gazing lovingly into each others' eyes that these things were not meant for you.

No one's going to assuage the shame you accrued at the hands of your mother during your childhood, nor your guilt over ignoring your mother. No one's going to teach you how to have a relationship - the pattern of dysfunction is already burned into your brain for all time. No one to help out with tuition, co-sign a loan, or even teach you how to save. Family vacations? Not for you. It's all pure envy at what others have and burning rage at what you don't. "Are not my ways equal?", asks God of His people. No. Not by a long shot.

Is it wrong to mourn the loss of what could have been a satisfying, productive life? Is it a crime if, from time to time, my mask slips a little and I disturb those whom I serve, those daintily dining on the plenty of this world, those who have what I so desperately need, in Eden? I'm the first to admit that it's not "everyone else's'" fault. But, just the same, full-time acting takes a lot of effort. One can't do anything forever.

So, in response to those readers who commented that our behavior is a choice, let me suggest that we are simply floundering under tons of bad circumstances beyond our control.

 If we can't love it's because we were never loved. If we can't have a meaningful relationship it's because we never witnessed any such thing during our childhoods. Most of our psychological and emotional efforts are used up trying to subsume our despair and rage so we can survive and you "normal people" can safely go about your happy lives unmolested. I am sorry if our resentment of your good fortunes of mental health, family, and finance shows from time to time.

But if all the children being raised by single mothers at present are any indication, you ain't seen nothing yet.





Scruples - the game of moral dillemas

Comments for "Self-Portrait of a BPD "

Jim said (July 24, 2012):

Find a good therapist, clergyman, or counselor experienced with EFT and give it a try. I believe you will benefit from it. With the help of a good coach I am confident that someday you will discover who you are (BPD feelings included) so you won't have to put on an act anymore.

I admire your ability to be introspective. This is a rare trait for people who suffer with BPD so, consider yourself blessed. You are smart and bright so make those little changes in your life as God reveals them to you. Keep examining yourself so you can grow and mature. I pray that you find peace as you seek to find meaning for your life. Hang in there, my friend. You're doing well.


C said (July 24, 2012):

Response to comments below

Mary: My biological father offered to marry my mother when she became pregnant. During a cross-country trip I took in my twenties, I happened to visit my godmother. She informed me that my mother "was a hardcore feminist. She set out to find the strongest man to sire her child." After all, he belonged to a notorious motorcycle gang and was a karate black belt (though I have inherited none of his aggressive characteristics).

My mother rejected and left my father after they had lived together for two years. My godmother also told me my mother's more traditional friends recommended abortion and that "she was very brave to raise you all on her own like that". Both my mother and my godmother was faghags, and my mother found some emotional solace during her pregnancy within the gay community. I know my father's name and garnered the courage to call him when I was 32. He's married with children and has no interest in knowing me now. Yes, I have no shortage of rage when it comes to him. Also, Henry Makow has done more for me (and men) than you will ever know.

John: If you can teleport me back in time to my infancy and somehow have my former self adopted by a loving family who will teach, encourage, support me - so that I can make their strength my own - I'll be more than happy to 'man up' and be as tough-guy alpha as you. "Vessels large may venture more, But little boats should keep near shore." - Benjamin Franklin

Ken: "A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the LORD" (Deu 23:2). I'm that bastard. His ways have never been equal.

Carolyn and Anon: Thanks for the kind words. Glad I could help.


Caroline said (July 23, 2012):

I had a strikingly similar childhood to what C describes. However, I chose neither to live in my mother’s poverty nor to subject myself to her mental illness through my young adult life. I worked full time throughout my senior year in high school and moved out (I lived with various relatives and roommates for a while). I do not mind being poor, as it is now my own poverty (not my mother’s) and I can work and pay the bills.

I am reaching my late twenties and have just started college two years ago (thank God!). I now have an apartment with my wonderful fiancé. I do not spend time feeling sorry for myself, I became sick and tired years ago of blaming my mother for my own problems; I got over it and I am living my life.

I certainly do not blame God for my problems either. The life experiences I have had made me an intelligent, strong, and independent person and although my life has been extremely difficult, I do not self-pity, blame others, or harbor envy for those who had it “easy”.

I will admit I had my own problems like anxiety, depression, and I was extremely antisocial/socially awkward. However, you'd be surprised how quickly you get over these problems when you have absolutely no choice but to do so (I needed a roof over my head and food on my plate!).


Anon said (July 23, 2012):

Thank you so much for your recent series on BPD. I had no idea that my own mother's insane, irrational, and abusive behavior had a name and that it is prevalent in our society. While this knowledge has reopened some old wounds for me it is helping to alleviate the shame and isolation I've endured around my (mis)treatment.

I felt compelled to write after seeing negative responses to Self Portrait Of A BPD. That was an excellent article. Anyone who says otherwise has not been emmeshed or immersed in the madness of a BPD's world. My jaw dropped as I read it as the first 3/4 of it was my story as well and I am female. Kudos to the author for achieving the insight and distance to be able to produce that piece.

To Mary: if you can't relate to this article give thanks and wait for the next one. If it hit a nerve perhaps you have BPD tendencies and have shat on some people in your life like you did the author.

To John: you're comments are off the mark and don't apply here.

Don't judge others until you've walked a mile in their shoes, people!


Devi said (July 23, 2012):

My spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada told us that all problems in society stem from unwanted children and this article clearly demonstrates the despair that such children endure. What a sad state of affairs our society is experiencing due to the purposeful destruction of the strength of the family by the eroding of moral values!

In our family, if we experience some trauma, we give ourselves permission to dwell on it, talk it over and obsess on it for some time. At a designated time, it becomes taboo to continue feeling sorry for ourselves and we get on to other matters.

When my mother rejected me by uninviting us the family Christmas get together, I thought of little else for about a week.

After that when my mind went to the hurtful matter I forced myself to think of how wonderful God is, instead. The solution to all problems is to love God. I sincerely hope that C will be able to feel the love that God has for him and in turn will be able to give and receive love from others. Best wishes, C.


John said (July 23, 2012):

What this guy needs is a kick in the ass ! He needs to get a life,,to do what men do,,Quit the poor me BS, get a real job, join a group where you take responsibly for your actions,,,maybe, just maybe HELP YOUR MOTHER, or do something for someone else,,I wish you the best, now man-up to it !!


Al said (July 23, 2012):

BPD" can be controlled but most people don't realize that it is a spiritual and a control problem. I believe that this article points to a solution to the problem. All I know is that I've had people write me back and tell me that it works and that they are using it successfully.
http://verydumbgovernment.blogspot.com/2012/07/i-love-you-sweetie-you-bastard.html


Ken said (July 23, 2012):

I can't imagine living through the extent of the burden that C is bearing. I can easily understand how his anger can become targeted at God, but, it is misdirected. He describes his relationships, or lack thereof, and their effects on him. This certainly has a powerful and lasting influence, but it is not God's doing.

God does not and cannot interfere, as He otherwise might like to, with everyone's poor decisions and their downstream consequences. The concept of 'freedom of choice and consequence', within a fabric of reality, would become a joke, a mockery. God would become an untrustworthy, spineless accessory, aiding and abetting our crimes by removing their bad results with a magic wand. Actually committing sin is this world's lesson, of course. The others are watching, learning.

"Thou shalt honour thy father and thy mother" is not a command to support evil. Every word or desire expressed by a parent does not necessarily come from God, or should be obeyed. Wrong is wrong, wherever it appears. How do we honour a parent who does something wrong? Support the wrong? Oppose the wrong?

"Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right." -Ephesians 6:1 Catch the important qualifying words.

God's ways are "equal". It's our ways that are not. Our unequal ways cause pain and misery for others. Why should God get the blame for our bad decisions? Our parent's bad decisions? Should God take away humanity's freedom to choose?

Yes, the innocent suffer. That is sin's way.

"He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil." -1John 3:8

Satan is destroying humanity on many levels, with humanity's willing co-operation. C's last sentence is prophetic.

Can we even imagine how much pain and misery would be avoided, would be healed, if God's love and law possessed our hearts and minds?


Mary said (July 23, 2012):

That's it Henry , this was the worst article you have ever posted!
Blaming one's mother for life's failures is the most hackneyed chant of the last century and I am sad to see it has carried over into this one. Your mantra is supposed to be about saving the males from the wiles of the Illuminati. I am beginning to think it has more to do with blaming everything on women. Back to Genesis again and what did Adam say to God?," The woman made me do it!"

Where was Pop, anyway? Did good old Dad exit after this guy's Mom lost her enchanting form after birth? Did he die leaving her an uneducated widowed homemaker in a society in which feminists dictate the woman should be capable of earning equal pay as a man for equal work? God forbid! Or,perhaps his diagnosis was supported by an equally self serving Dr who was more than happy to prescribe medication for his addictive self absorbed personality?

Real men do not make excuses ,they work towards finding solutions.


Henry Makow received his Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Toronto in 1982. He welcomes your comments at