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Diana Fleischman's avatar

Great article!

The reverse causality idea is compelling to me because I have a family member with borderline personality disorder who tried to convince me that I had been abused, both as a child and as an adult. For example she told me that Child Protective Services had been called to check on me as a toddler (not true) and tried to recast a couple of experiences where a boyfriend was just being a bit neglectful as abusive. In another instance, I had a good friend with BPD who hadn't spoken to her father in over a year and consistently told me it was too painful to talk about. Finally, when pressed, she described the incident and it was just her father refusing to pay for her to get her car door fixed. Unsurprisingly, when I told her this didn't seem like a good reason for years of silent treatment, I got silent treatment for a week. Borderline Personality has such a strong impact on the culture, especially leftist culture, and it doesn't get talked about enough.

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triangulation's avatar

Nice piece. Your readers may be interested in my, similarly titled, piece, from a month ago: https://triangulation.substack.com/p/the-myth-of-trauma

"The notion of trauma is another powerful tool our culture provides. It gives people meaning but also creates an alibi with the end result of a sense of entitlement."

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