Dear Friends of TARA4BPD:

I'm so proud to share my TED Talk with all the families who opened their hearts and shared their stories at TARA4BPD. Thank You! Your courage, pain, dedication, and love was the driving force behind my search for answers. As family members who have lived with the emotional and financial strain of BPD, you, more than anyone, understand the need to reframe personality disorder. You made this TED TALK possible.

TEDx KI 2025:
Unwritten Letters, Voicing the Unspoken

Presenting this TED Talk gave me the opportunity to share what I have come to understand about BPD, mental illness, diagnoses, comorbidity, families, trauma, and treatment. I gave voice to what I realized is unspoken in the psychiatric world, the reluctance by clinicians and many researchers to acknowledge the role of neurobiology and genes in mental illness, especially BPD.

It seems that, when in doubt, it is much easier to blame the environment, the family, or to label it as trauma, rather than trying to think "out of the box" or to explore other disciplines, keeping in mind that nothing in nature happens without a reason. These rigid and stigmatizing attitudes create pain, suffering, and hopelessness. They discourage repairing relationships and building vital social connection.

My TED talk explores how reframing BPD with a deeper understanding of the biological roots can reduce stigma, change attitudes, inform better treatment, and the importance of human connection, empathy and compassion.