Care not Cages

Our Spring 2021 issue features Sue Wheatcroft, a former prisoner with a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), “Why are there so many women with Borderline Personality Disorder in prison?”

BPD is the most common personality disorder among women, both in prison and the community. It is estimated that around 20% of women in UK prisons have BPD, costing UK taxpayers £76,700 annually. Sadly, far too many sufferers of BPD do not receive care from Community Mental Health Services (CMHS) and slip through the net of support, due to a lack of funding and training in the diagnosis of BPD.

Sue explains, “We phone the crisis team in tears, begging for help, to be told that all they can do is to phone the police or advise us to phone 111”.

There is also a stigma surrounding BPD, even within the mental health profession, as it is not an easy condition to treat and can require lengthy psychological treatment. Funding is targeted at more treatable medical conditions, leading to a lack of recognition, understanding and treatment of BPD.

It is estimated that between 1% and 2% of the UK population have BPD, although due no definitive statistics and poor awareness of the condition, these figures could well be underestimated. BPD is a complex disorder, which can result in extremely distressing emotions and emotional dysregulation, leaving a sufferer feeling desperate.

Tragically, 70% of BPD sufferers attempt suicide and 10% have died by suicide. Sue tells us, “the urge to do this can be immediate and sometimes, the feeling will not go away until we have done something extreme: screaming, self-harming, offending are just some of our outlets.”

Those in power should be  incentivised to tackle BPD. We owe it to women with mental health  conditions to treat them with care not cages.

To read  Sue Wheatcroft’s full article ‘Why?’ get your copy of The View at your local newsagents or via subscription.

Enter the code 3f4gum to access a 20% discount at checkout.