Aaron Fornarino: BPD & Men - The Elephant in the Room

8th Annual National BPD Conference 2018 in Brisbane: Research Resources Respect: Connection Building.
Borderline Personality Disorder in men is often underdiagnosed, misdiagnosed as Anti Social Personality Disorder or other mental illnesses. Men are more likely to suffer from co-morbid substance abuse issues, intermittent explosive anger and feelings of isolation in discussing emotion and a blanket denial of mental health problems. These factors make accessing treatment difficult and more likely for a male with BPD to become incarcerated, lose family and children and remain isolated within a community.
Some DBT groups may be female dominated that present further problems and make participation in treatments difficult for men. Treatments involving BPD and men may appear to be rarely discussed that reinforce a stigma that women only suffer from BPD. Men may find accessing treatment difficult on fronts of legal, medical and psychological help and may take a 'macho man' approach (e.g. I don't need help/I'll just have a drink/It will blow over). Is it correct in asserting within a court, medical or psychiatric environment that men are antisocial? Is it worth digging deeper to find out the cause of a feeling rather than the anger that overshadows another emotion?
More often than not, sadly, those with BPD in crisis situations are provoked even further into explosive outbursts. These scenarios may be considered to make it difficult for men in particular to express their emotions in a way that identifies a need for assistance and treatment rather than punishment. While responsibility should be promoted more in both genders, approaches may differ. Courts may attempt to punish an offender in a rehabilitative manner however may inadvertently continue a cycle of crisis. Associating BPD with female attributes is factually incorrect and continues a cycle of stigma against men.
Terminology and language around both genders is an important role towards accessible treatment and a desire for men to seek help.