Brooke Breaks It Down: BPD & More

if you feel like a passenger in your own life because your emotions are so loud, this is for you. part 2 of the bpd survival manual is about taking back the steering wheel. we’re talking about wise mind and how to observe the storm without drowning in it. therapy tools shouldn't be gatekept. let's heal together. 🤍

if you have ever been told you are too much, you need to hear this. Part 1 of the bpd survival manual is all about ungatekeeping the tools that saved my life. therapy is expensive but these facts are free. You aren't dramatic, you are just high alert. let's talk about it

The system loves to call us monsters so they don't have to feel guilty about leaving us to rot. I'm done watching my people drown because they can't drop thousands of dollars on a therapist who actually gives a damn. We're labeled as difficult just because we're hurting, and I'm over the gatekeeping. This is for everyone who was told they were too much to handle while they were just trying to survive. Mental health's a right, not a luxury for the rich.

Why am I doing this? Therapy shouldn't be gatekept. Welcome to the BPD Survival Manual, follow along if this is for you

Getting a fish tank was honestly the best thing I ever did for my mental health and my anxiety because it gives me a spot to just breathe and reset when my brain gets too loud. But I have to be 100% real with you guys before you go out and buy a setup because this is definitely not a hobby you can just jump into on a whim. If you do not spend the time doing actual research on things like the nitrogen cycle, water chemistry, and proper tank sizing, you are going to make some pretty grave mistakes that can literally end in a total disaster for the fish.

It takes a lot of patience and legit work to build an ecosystem that actually brings you peace, so you have to make sure you really learn the ropes before you start this journey. I think it is so important to say this because the last thing you want when you are already feeling anxious is the added stress of a tank crashing or losing fish because you were not prepared. You are basically part scientist and part caretaker, and while that responsibility is what makes it so rewarding, it also means you cannot cut corners or rush the process. When you finally get that balance right and your fish are thriving, the mental health perks are huge, but you have to earn that serenity by putting in the effort to understand the life you are bringing into your home.

This year will be my third year out of the worst domestically abusive relationship I was ever in. That sorry excuse of a man briefly destroyed everything about me, all the way to my core. He changed who I was, life as I knew it was over when I let him walk through that door. My children learned hard lessons and went through things they never ever should have. A lot of people know who said person was just by power of deduction alone. Im thankful to say im no longer the person he was molding me to be, im no longer compliant and scared, im grateful to say that the person I am today would be someone past me would be proud of. My growth and healing journey is not over yet 😌

The hardest part isnt even the heat of the moment its the quiet morning after. That bpd emotional hangover hits different when your brain finally settles down and you realize you have to pick up the pieces of a storm you didnt mean to start. Youre left sitting there looking at the wreckage of a version of yourself that feels like a total stranger. Its an exhausting cycle of feeling too much and then having to face the consequences once the dust settles. If youve ever felt like you dont recognize the person you were just a few hours ago youre definitely not alone in this one. It gets better and we do recover 🫂🖤

I'm so fvcking sick of watching TikTok turn BPD into some cute little aesthetic like it's somethina you can just decide you have when the ring light turns on. Some of us are actually living with the kind of intensity and pain these ✨️bpd girlies✨️ pretend to understand. We carry it into every relationship and every quiet moment when nobody's there to watch us break. It's not cute, it's not quirky, and it sure as hell isn't something that disappears the second the camera's off. If your "BPD" only shows up when you want attention, that's not a disorder, that's an audience. People like me spent years trying to stay alive through emotions you treat like a trend, and I'm so tired of watching influencers cosplay a disorder that was carved into us by trauma we never asked for. Keep your aesthetic. I'Il keep the reality you'd never fvcking survive.