The first Documentary to capture the lived experience of Borderline Personality Disorder

HamletHub Whole New You Series
Partially underwritten by Reliance Merchant Services
Presented by Silver Hill Hospital

Post Screening Panel Discussion immediately following film includes: Rebbie Ratner, Film Director, Regina V., BORDERLINE Main Character, Dr. Aaron Krasner, Director, Adolescent Transitional Living Program at Silver Hill Hospital and Gina Pulice, LCSW

People say having a Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) diagnosis is equivalent to walking through life with a Do Not Resuscitate order. To the extent that it is portrayed in popular culture, the disorder is often caricatured, turned into something cartoonish and pathetic: shrieking outbursts, bleeding eyeliner, dark mascara and slashed wrists. This film does not do that.

The documentary follows one person with the borderline diagnosis who gives us access to her internal world. Regina is a 45-year old woman – outta work and outta love. Witty and self-aware, she makes observations that are uncomfortable but astute, reacts on impulse, attacks, distracts, meditates, trips over herself, laughs, burns bridges, makes social gaffes, apologizes, loses her cool, philosophizes and remains dogged in her search for recovery.

Borderline is very much a disease of perception where one lives in rigid adherence to a single point of view at any one moment. When the moment shifts, so does the point of view. The individual lives in a constantly oscillating state of seemingly conflicting feelings that can’t be reconciled, struggling to hold multiple perspectives simultaneously. And so it is for Regina.

It is the behaviors generated in this unpredictable emotional landscape that account for some scary statistics: an estimated 1-2 percent of the US population carry the diagnosis, 80% of these people attempt suicide, and 10% succeed. Approximately 25% of the substance addicted and 25% of the eating disorder populations meet the diagnostic criteria for BPD, yet few are actually given a diagnosis. This has been Regina’s experience: a history of substance abuse, suicide attempts, self-harm, fractured relationships, difficulty maintaining employment, and misdiagnosis. This film tracks her sometimes tragic, sometimes hilarious attempts to challenge and heal herself.

Tickets are FREE!