My name is Sam. I am 20 years old, and I am from a small town in Michigan. I am currently studying psychology, managing a dining hall on my campus, and attempting to write and perform music on top of my bustling academic and work life. My favorite color is blue, I love musical theater, and I have borderline personality disorder.

I recognize that in making this blog, I am sacrificing the idea that my disorder defines my life. To me, I am a puzzle, with several pieces creating who I am. As much as I want to equate liking the color blue to me having a mental illness and simply writing it off as another one of my traits, the pieces are simply not the same size. In reality, mental illness has driven every facet of my life for as long as I can remember, and I have recently emerged from a particularly dark cloud of horrendous symptoms. It is truly one of the biggest pieces of my puzzle, and I can not downplay that any longer.

I’m making this blog for two reasons. The first is to help my friends, family, and anyone else who cares understand my experience with mental illness. I am no expert on the disease, but I am certainly an expert on what I’ve been through because of it, so of course I do not speak for everyone with borderline, but I hope that my experience sheds some light on some of the things people with borderline go through, and it helps destigmatize the disorder. On the other hand, I make this for myself. I have been silent for too long on my issues with mental health. I have struggled quietly because I didn’t feel as though I had anything important to say or contribute to the discussion of mental health. I have come to realize that my story holds value, the things I go through are important, and I can contribute to something by sharing a piece of my life. This allows me to have a platform to say what I want about my life, which to me is extremely empowering.

I don’t know how much I will update this blog, but I’m hoping that by creating this outlet, I have created something important in the discussion of mental illness. Bear with me as I attempt to put my thoughts into written word.

-Sam