Thread by @nerdinplussize

Just found out May is BPD awareness month! BPD is a bitch and sometimes it takes silly things to keep you going. So I just wanted to take a second to list some practical things that help me in my day to day life! 💜 1/(long ass 🧶)

Please make sure you have your basic needs met. That means get enough sleep, remember to eat and wash yourself. Everything feels 10 000 times worse if you're hungry, dirty and tired. 2/

And that means cut corners whenever you can!! Prepare for days you just can't function. Have easy food, snacks in your cabinets, use wet wipes, dry shampoo, take naps etc so you DON'T HAVE TO 2/

If you're a person who menstruates, get a period tracker!! Personally my symptoms get really bad with pms and it's been a literal life saver to be able to check that oh okay, next week I have to be extra attentive and patient towards myself. Atm I use an app called Clue. 3/

Be responsible with alcohol and other consumables! My mood swings can get really intense when drinking so I rarely get drunk and I know to stay away from drugs. When I used to smoke cigarettes, a nurse told me not to quit suddenly to avoid suicidal bursts. 4/

I tend to forget stuff really easily due to dissociating so I write things down, especially for therapy. I used to use this app called Daylio to see what made me feel certain type of way and it helped me and my therapist to stay realistic about how I was doing. 5/

Which leads me to triggers! Find out what are your triggers or things that are difficult for you and actually ACCEPT that they're hard for you. Mine is cleaning, especially vaccuuming and someone else cleaning. It's silly and it makes my life a bit difficult but it just means 6/

that I have to be patient and get creative. Some days I can vaccuum and do the dishes just fine, some days even the thought makes me feel like someone is screaming at me. I have a dump box and hooks around the house so I can keep things neat more easily. 7/

Another one is paranoia that I still get quite often. And i've noticed that if I need to eg. ask someone if they hate me or if i've peed myself without noticing, I need to do it to move on. It feels ridiculous but it works 😂 It requires others to act nicely abt it tho. 8/

Other things that help me when i'm anxious is having jewellery that I can fiddle with or a texture I can use to ground myself. My cats are an amazing resource for this and they help me so much 💜 I also let myself switch clothes as many times during the day as necessary. 9/

One of the major problems with BPD is that your sense of self is unstable. So I try to let myself have all the small silly things that make me happy. I put up fairy lights and pictures. I do my nails often. I bought a small silly looking porcelain pig cus it makes me smile. 10/

I'm 29 and I still don't know what I like. I constantly fear that everything in me is just things I've mirrored from others and ackwardly stuck them on me like post its, hoping that they'd stick and make me interesting. So it's important to try sniff out what makes me happy. 11/

I do have a bad thing with nocturnal online shopping. But i've tried to buy second hand, not use credit, and most importantly, sleep on it before I buy. If I still want the thing™ and feel like i need it in the morning, fine. 12/

With relationships I still have so much to learn 😭😂 I've noticed it helps to take those leaps of faith, however scary and when in doubt, look at the facts. If your brain says someone wants to hurt you take a second to think if the "evidence" supports that. 13/

And COMMUNICATE!! I make things so much harder for myself by isolating myself. Even if you feel like your feelings are unfair and childish, you need to communicate about them and be honest. People can't help you if you don't let them. 14/

BPD is tough but you are tougher! 💜 You're responsible for your own life. You don't need to repeat unhealthy patterns, you don't need to act like your brain initially tells you to. Get help. Cut out toxic people. Call yourself out on bad behaviour, publicly if needed. 15/

Anyway, thank you for reading this far! 💜 I hope this helped someone. I know meds and therapy is not available for everyone but I do recommend them. I am by no means stable or a health specialist but if you want to asks something or talk I'm here ! 💜 /End