Menu
Sign In Search Podcasts Charts People & Topics Add Podcast API Blog Pricing
Podcast Image

Stuff You Should Know

Selects: BPD: The Worst Disorder or Not a Disorder at All?

17 Jan 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

0.031 - 6.038 Chuck Bryant

This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human. Hi, I'm Dr. Priyanka Wally.

0

6.179 - 7.42 Hari Kondabolu

And I'm Hari Kundabolu.

0

7.44 - 11.946 Chuck Bryant

It's a new year, and on the podcast Health Stuff, we're resetting the way we talk about our health.

0

11.986 - 28.332 Hari Kondabolu

Which means being honest about what we know, what we don't know, and how messy it can all be. I like to sleep in late and sleep early. Is there a chronotype for that, or am I just depressed? Health stuff is about learning, laughing, and feeling a little less alone.

0

28.594 - 34.358 Chuck Bryant

Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

34.523 - 51.02 Joel and Matt

Hey, it's Joel and Matt from How To Money. If your New Year's resolution is to finally get your finances in shape, we've got your back. Prices, they're still high and the economy is all over the place. But 2026 is the year for you to get intentional and make real progress. That's right. Yeah.

51.04 - 64.513 Joel and Matt

Each week we break down what's happening with your money, the most important issues to focus on, and the small moves that make a big difference. Kick off the year with confidence. Listen to How To Money on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

64.493 - 82.58 Dr. Jesse Mills

This is Dr. Jesse Mills, host of the Mailroom Podcast. Each January, men promise to get stronger, work harder and fix what's broken. But what if the real work isn't physical at all? I sat down with psychologist Dr. Steve Poulter to unpack shame, anxiety and the emotional pain men were never taught how to name.

83 - 89.59 Unknown

Part of the way through the valley of despair is realizing this has happened and you have to make a choice whether you're going to stay in it or move forward.

Chapter 2: What is Borderline Personality Disorder and why is it significant?

496.077 - 496.979 Chuck Bryant

Or is it Linehan?

0

498.04 - 499.382 Josh Clark

I'm going to go with Linhan.

0

499.868 - 520.242 Chuck Bryant

Yeah, she, as we'll see, is someone who not only suffered from BPD but kind of pioneered the treatment of BPD. But she said it's like having third-degree burns on 90% of your body metaphorically. So you're lacking emotional skin and you feel agony at the slightest touch or movement.

0
0

521.063 - 545.362 Chuck Bryant

And since you did mention self-harm, non-suicidal self-harm, it also, people with BPD have a suicide rate of, was it like 50 times higher than average in the population? Mm-hmm. Yeah. So this is no joke. This is a very hardcore disorder that bears more empathy and understanding.

545.402 - 545.502

Yeah.

545.532 - 563.711 Josh Clark

Yeah, for sure. Let's go back to the beginning, shall we? Because borderline personality disorder is one of those terms that has taken on its own meaning in the general population. But if you stop and think about it, it doesn't really reveal much about what it's describing. It's just one of those terms.

563.731 - 566.173 Chuck Bryant

Not at all. Frustratingly so.

566.253 - 571.759 Josh Clark

Yeah, and that goes back to a jerk named Adolph Stern who really jerked it up back in 1938. Yeah.

Chapter 3: What are the common misconceptions about BPD and its symptoms?

1373.791 - 1393.24 Chuck Bryant

Yeah, that seems to be a really key thing is that it really disturbs your relationships. So to be diagnosed, you fit at least five out of the following nine that we're going to read for you. Chronic feelings of emptiness.

0

1393.501 - 1397.166 Josh Clark

And that's emptiness feeling like isolated or lonely or hopeless.

0

1397.315 - 1410.774 Chuck Bryant

Sure. Emotional instability and reaction to day-to-day events. That's the thing we were talking about earlier, like seeing mountains out of molehills seems slightly reductive, but that's kind of a basic way to say it.

0
0

1411.456 - 1416.684 Chuck Bryant

Frantic efforts to avoid abandonment, whether or not they're real or imagined.

1416.744 - 1417.626 Unknown

That's a huge one.

1417.946 - 1432.148 Chuck Bryant

Yeah, as we'll see, abandonment issues and this very, very much includes emotional abandonment as a really big precursor. Yeah. Unstable self-image or sense of self. What else?

1432.448 - 1456.5 Josh Clark

Impulsive behavior is usually a big one, and you have to have impulsive behavior in at least two areas that are harming your day-to-day life, like an eating disorder and gambling addiction or something like that. Right. Another one is – This is based on – and so this is where some psychiatrists would be like, see, this is not – this is a symptom that we're talking about here.

1456.841 - 1472.622 Josh Clark

But it's unstable and intense interpersonal relationships. Meaning like you're really, really close to somebody for, you know, a couple of days and then they do something you don't like and they're the worst person in the world. Right. And it can happen very, very quickly with people with BPD.

Chapter 4: How does emotional dysregulation manifest in individuals with BPD?

2087.161 - 2095.831 Josh Clark

There's plenty of other – disorders that have it. But one of the key traits of BPD is it can last a really long time too.

0

2097.358 - 2111.962 Chuck Bryant

Can we make a t-shirt that has a chicken? that says parent across the chicken's chest. And then next to it, an egg that says mental disorder. Love it. And just, that's the shirt. No explanation. Figure it out or don't.

0

2112.202 - 2119.673 Josh Clark

How about this, though? On the back of the shirt, mork is coming out of the egg. Okay. All right? To really confuse people.

0

2120.594 - 2121.055 Chuck Bryant

Uh-huh.

0

2121.175 - 2121.255

Yep.

2121.944 - 2145.1 Chuck Bryant

Oh, wow. That just really changed things. I like it. Okay. So as far as the number of people who experience BPD, it's kind of a wide range like all this stuff because it's one of those disorders that is a lot of people don't admit it or seek treatment, so it's really hard to nail it down. But Livia helped us out with this one, and she said 0.5% to 6%.

2145.08 - 2155.739 Chuck Bryant

And they find it about four times more in women. But they've also found other studies are like, no, it's the women who are brave enough to come forward and seek treatment. And it happens just as much in men.

2155.979 - 2169.183 Josh Clark

I also saw that it's a that's an indictment of clinicians who basically have to figure out for themselves whether the person has BPD and that they're more likely to assign it to a woman than a man, a male patient.

2169.283 - 2169.383

Yeah.

Comments

There are no comments yet.

Please log in to write the first comment.