Borderline Personality as Social Phenomena:
An Interdisciplinary Study

The Borderline Personality as Social Phenomena (ARC LP 190100247) project focuses on Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) as a diagnosis, a label, a site of considerable controversy and a lens through which to examine sociocultural questions around shifting attitudes to labelling diverse personality traits as ‘disorders’.

The project aims to collect a range of distinct personal narratives from people with lived experience, and from health and social care practitioners supporting this group of people, in order to provide a sophisticated understanding of the social context of BPD; one that retains complexity and helps develop sociological evidence based on lived experience. To do so, we utilise a range of innovative qualitative and arts-based research methods, such as in-depth narrative interviews, arts making workshops and online collection of multimedia narratives, which allow inclusion of diverse perspectives and ways of knowing. By foregrounding people’s experiences and presenting them in an innovative Healthtalk Australia digital resource (https://healthtalkaustralia.org/), the project aims to address marginalisation of people living with the BPD.

Borderline Personality as Social Phenomena is funded by an ARC Linkage Project grant (LP 190100247, 2021-24), run in partnership with National Mental Health Commission, the Department of Health (Vic), Mind Australia, Mental Health Victoria, Neami National, Spectrum Eastern Health, SANE Australia, Orygen and Lived Experience Australia. The research represents a collaboration between RMIT University, Monash University, University of Melbourne, University of Glasgow and Goldsmiths, University of London. The project is guided by an Advisory Group that includes people with lived experience of mental distress, representatives of collaborating organisations, and key researchers utilising innovative qualitative and arts-based methods in mental health research.

You can also access our recent publication: Perspectives on person-centred care for borderline personality disorder: a critical research agenda.