If you have BPD you must start by realizing that you can learn to feel better. BPD is an acquired set of behaviors that are for some a product of family dysfunction and psychotrauma. For others, genetic factors interact with family dysfunction such as invalidation and severe discord to create borderline behavior patterns.

To overcome BPD you must be willing to learn new ways of thinking and behaving. You must expect that this will not be easy, but that it is very doable.

A Young Man with BPD, 1996

Our starting point in life is never by our free choice. Our genetic code is pieced together through a miraculous microcosmic dance. And our family environment is our gift or our curse. A supportive family environment composed of love, security, progressive learning and discipline, helps to nurture a healthy and successful person. But what happens when these critical ingredients are deficient? A family environment, which we will term "psychotraumatizing", creates a very different kind of person. Someone whose heart is wounded by fear and anger and whose mind is often confused and impulsive. Someone, who through a misfortune of birth, develops a personality disturbance and is put at risk for addiction, failure, and even self-destruction.