Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)

I challenge the pervasive stigmatising narratives that surround the borderline category through means that extend beyond just scholarly engagement. As a sociologist, I am constantly invited to be critical about how my work comes back to the community it centres. I attempt to grapple with this in part by going beyond the confines of academia.

In what might be best thought of as a form of public sociology, I commit considerable time to platforming lived-experience, using my own to benefit the wider community. I do so predominantly by engaging with the BPD community through conferences, non-profit work, and voluntary interactions with social media and podcast projects led by people with lived-experience of BPD.

Below are just some of the things I have been involved in.

Please note that this page is regularly updated. Items refer to a range of activities, some of which are ongoing, while others are singluar and upcoming or have since past.

Guest Lectures, Conference Presentations & Talks

'Mediating Madness: Community Mental Health Spaces as Heterotopias of Deviation', Guest Lecture for Universidade da Região de Joinville (Invited, Acessoria Internacional, October 2024)

'Imagens do Inconsciente: Nise, Art & Sensing Mad Worlds in the Twentieth-Century Brazilian Clinic', Conference Presentation at the North American Chapter for the History of Emotions' Annual Conference (NACHE) (Expected, June 2024)

'A Story of Lived-Experience', Presentation for the BPD Society of British Columbia's 'BPD Awareness Day' schedule (Invited by Baylie McKnight - President & Co-Founder of the BPD Society of BC, May 2024)

'Imagens do Inconsciente: Reimagining Mad Knowledge in the Twentieth-century Brazilian Clinic', Guest Lecture for University of Calgary (Invited by Prof. Scott McLean, Winter 2024)

'Imagens do Inconsciente: Mad Arts and Identity in the Twentieth-Century Brazilian Clinic', Conference Presentation for the History of Medicine Days Annual Conference, University of Calgary (March 2024)

'Sensing Madness: A Critical Phenomenology of the Borderlines of Knowledge', Guest Lecture for University of Calgary (Invited by Dr. Janna Klostermann, Fall 2023)

The BPD Bunch

Social Media Posts

Portuguese Translations

Episodes

The Borderline Personality Disorder Society of British Columbia

Deconstructing Stigma Campaign (McLean Hospital)

Short Film: 'Still Here? In the darkest moments, hope calls.'

Guest Lectures, Conference Presentations & Talks

'Mediating Madness: Community Mental Health Spaces as Heterotopias of Deviation', Guest Lecture for Universidade da Região de Joinville (Invited, Acessoria Internacional, October 2024)

'Imagens do Inconsciente: Nise, Art & Sensing Mad Worlds in the Twentieth-Century Brazilian Clinic', Conference Presentation at the North American Chapter for the History of Emotions' Annual Conference (NACHE) (Expected, June 2024)

'A Story of Lived-Experience', Presentation for the BPD Society of British Columbia's 'BPD Awareness Day' schedule (Invited by Baylie McKnight - President & Co-Founder of the BPD Society of BC, May 2024)

Jay's Story.mp4

'Imagens do Inconsciente: Reimagining Mad Knowledge in the Twentieth-century Brazilian Clinic', Guest Lecture for University of Calgary (Invited by Prof. Scott McLean, Winter 2024)

'Imagens do Inconsciente: Mad Arts and Identity in the Twentieth-Century Brazilian Clinic', Conference Presentation for the History of Medicine Days Annual Conference, University of Calgary (March 2024)

'Sensing Madness: A Critical Phenomenology of the Borderlines of Knowledge', Guest Lecture for University of Calgary (Invited by Dr. Janna Klostermann, Fall 2023)

'Borderline Sensoriums: Experiencing Life on the Borderline', Guest Lecture for Universidade da Região de Joinville (Invited, Mrs. Flávia Felippi Rückl, Winter 2023 - unable to deliver due to illness)

'Living on the Borderline', The Inclusion Conversation by Solène Anglaret

#BPDFest23 Panellist, Emotions Matter

'Arbiters of our own Stories: Borderline Personality Disorder', Guest Lecture for the University of Calgary (Invited by Dr. Janna Klostermann, Fall 2022)

The BPD Bunch

As of Season 2, I am officially a talk show co-host for The BPD Bunch, a podcast and talk show video group with a social media presence, founded by Xannie Stavert. It centres lived-experience voices of those labelled with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Working with the group, I record podcasts and video content within which I discuss my lived-experience of navigating this psychiatric category, the recordings of which are available via Spotify, Anchor.FM, YouTube, and the Apple Podcast app. I also contribute to the group by writing and co-writing selected themed posts for their social media platform.