A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma is an interview podcast that explores how we live with, treat, advocate for, write about, and conceptualize borderline personality disorder, as well as common co-occurring challenges like complex PTSD, eating disorders, and substance use disorder, all of which I’ve experienced. My guests and I will also discuss how literature, film, television, photography, dance, philosophy, the history of medicine, feminist and disability studies, nature, and bioethics reflect, illuminate, and impact the experience and cultural perceptions of BPD. The podcast’s goal is to increase access to effective, compassionate care.
A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma
Claim This Podcastby Cynthia Gralla
5.0(3 reviews)
31 episodes
Updated Weekly
Accepts GuestsHas SponsorsLocation 🇺🇸
Podcast Overview
A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma is an interview podcast that explores how we live with, treat, advocate for, write about, and conceptualize borderline personality disorder, as well as common co-occurring challenges like complex PTSD, eating disorders, and substance use disorder, all of which I’ve experienced. My guests and I will also discuss how literature, film, television, photography, dance, philosophy, the history of medicine, feminist and disability studies, nature, and bioethics reflect, illuminate, and impact the experience and cultural perceptions of BPD. The podcast’s goal is to increase access to effective, compassionate care.
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
4/3/2024
1 verified contact email on file for A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma
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Recent Episodes
June 2, 2026
Euphoria’s Cassie: Portraying women with borderline personality disorder traits
What responsibility does a writer/director have when presenting a female character who appears to have BPD traits? Following the series finale of Euphoria, Sam Levinson’s controversial television drama, I discuss the dramatic shift in his writing for Cassie, played by Sydney Sweeney, in the third and final season.
September 1, 2025
Communication strategies for people with BPD and their treatment providers
How can people with BPD and their clinicians communicate more effectively and compassionately with each other? In this solo episode, I draw on my personal experiences and my study of narrative medicine to offer tips for people on both sides of the doctor-patient encounter, especially during the initial visit and collection of the patient’s history. I explain why self-advocacy is so important, particularly for those who identify as women. Rita Charon, Narrative Medicine: Honoring the Stories of Illness Maya Dusenbery, Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick Edvard Munch, The Scream Columbia University narrative medicine program University of Toronto narrative-based medicine program
August 28, 2025
“You can't necessarily compare your trauma to someone else's”: Social worker Samantha Dellosso
How does the health care system condition how we see our mental health treatment and diagnoses? In this interview—an excerpt from a much longer conversation—I talk with Samantha Dellosso, a social worker, health administrator, and friend of forty years. She and I discuss Medicaid in the U.S., viewing personality disorders along a spectrum, and how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) don’t necessarily determine who we turn out to be. Alexander Kriss, Borderline: The Biography of a Personality Disorder Bessel van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score
31 total episodes available
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Frequently asked questions
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- What is A Real Affliction: BPD, Culture, and Stigma?
- How often does this podcast release new episodes?
This podcast updates weekly.
- Where can I listen to this podcast?
This podcast is available on 2 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
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Information about guest appearances is not available.
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