Consumer Organizations

CONSUMER AND FAMILY SUPPORT/ADVOCACY ORGANIZATIONS
Patient and Family Support

Two main national patient and family support and advocacy organizations that focus exclusively on borderline disorder have been developed over the past decade:

  • NEA-BPD: the National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder
  • TARA APD: the Treatment and Research Advancements Association for Personality Disorders

Although they differ in specific emphases and strategies, their general missions are as follows:

  1. to increase awareness of borderline disorder
  2. to educate patients and their families about the disorder and how to cope more effectively with its effects on them
  3. to stimulate public and private funding for research on borderline disorder

Both NEA-BPD and TARA have formed alliances with prominent academicians in the field and with political leaders in order to rapidly enhance the quality and breadth of the information that they require, and to optimize their influence and effectiveness.

Local chapters have been developed and members of the local chapters of NEA-BPD have been trained to lead family support groups and to distribute help and information to those in need. TARA and NEA-BPD also sponsor regional educational conferences and workshops on BPD for consumers and mental health professionals.

In addition, the leadership of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has recently formally added borderline disorder to their list of “priority populations.” This formalizes NAMI’s long-standing commitment to providing support, education and advocacy to people with borderline disorder and to their families.

These organizations are excellent sources of help for people with borderline disorder and for their families and loved ones. Contact information for NEA-BPD, TARA and NAMI is as follows:

National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder, NEA-BPD
P.O. Box 974
Rye, NY 10580
Office: 914-835-9011
NEABPD@aol.com
www.borderlinepersonalitydisorder.com

Treatment and Research Advancements National Association for Personality Disorder, TARA
23 Greene Street
New York, NY 10013
Office: 212-966-6514
TARAAPD@aol.com
www.tara4bpd.org

National Alliance on Mental Illness, NAMI
Colonial Place Three
2107 Wilson Blvd.
Suite 300
Arlington, VA 22201-3043
Toll-free : 1-800-950-6264
Office: 703-524-7600
Fax: 703-524-9094
www.nami.org