title: Advocacy for people with borderline personality disorder.
abstract: Although many of the largest and best known consumer and family mental health advocacy organizations do not restrict themselves to a single diagnosis, over the last few decades an increasing number of disease-specific mental health advocacy organizations have emerged. This column describes the development of a movement advocating for consumers and families affected by borderline personality disorder (BPD) as an example of two trends in the mental health advocacy field: closer ties between advocacy and professional groups and specialization to better address the different needs created by different diagnoses.
authors.affiliation: Anand Pandya, MD: Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA.
authors.forename: Anand
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pandya
mesh_terms: D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D010344:Patient Advocacy / Q000592:standards*