On May 13, 2017, leaders and advocates from across the borderline personality disorder (BPD) community took a significant step forward in national advocacy. Dr. Perry Hoffman of the National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder (NEABPD), Dr. Carla Sharp of the University of Houston, and Paula Tusiani-Eng and Sarah Rooney of Emotions Matter, Inc. met with Dr. Bruce Cuthbert, Acting Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), at NIMH headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland.

During the meeting, the group presented Dr. Cuthbert with printed copies of signatures and personal comments collected through a Change.org petition organized by Emotions Matter, calling for increased federal research funding for BPD. The petition emphasized that borderline personality disorder has a devastating emotional and financial impact on individuals, caregivers, families, and society, and that those living with BPD often experience profound and indescribable psychological pain.

Advocates highlighted that up to 5.9% of the population is affected by BPD—more than twice the combined prevalence of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder—yet BPD remained the least funded mental illness at NIMH at the time of the meeting. Despite being the most searched diagnostic term on NIMH's website, BPD received less research funding than any other mental health condition. The petition further underscored the disorder's severity, noting that an estimated 10% of individuals with BPD die by suicide, approximately 60% experience major depression, and roughly 60% struggle with substance use disorders. While suicide, depression, substance use, and eating disorders each received substantial federal research investment, BPD—which often encompasses all four—was not even identified as a target population for research.

In addition to the data, advocates shared powerful personal stories from individuals living with BPD and from family members across the country who described the daily realities of loving and supporting someone with the disorder. These accounts reinforced the petition's message that the lack of research investment was unacceptable—to families working tirelessly to help their loved ones, to individuals with BPD striving to thrive and participate fully in society, to clinicians seeking better treatment options, and to taxpayers bearing the substantial economic costs associated with untreated or under-treated BPD, including unemployment, homelessness, incarceration, and addiction.

The petition also framed BPD as a significant public health issue, estimating that at least 18 million Americans experience BPD during their lifetimes and that, conservatively, the lives of nearly 90 million people are negatively impacted when family members and loved ones are included. Advocates asked why a condition of such prevalence and severity was not treated as a national public health priority and urged NIMH to move BPD "from the back to the front of the line" in mental health research funding.

Dr. Cuthbert thanked the group for raising awareness of BPD and said he would review the petition. While change at the federal level often unfolds gradually, this meeting represented a meaningful opportunity to elevate BPD within national research priorities.

This campaign marked an important step toward equity, recognition, and hope for individuals and families affected by BPD—and reaffirmed the power of collective advocacy to drive change.