NFL receiver Brandon Marshall recently announced he has borderline personality disorder, or BPD, a mental illness that the National Institute of Mental Health characterized with aggressive behavior, pervasive instability in moods, unstable social relationships and a tendency for self-harm and injury.
Marshall, 27, said during a live NFL Network broadcast that BPD has negatively affected his life, both personally and professionally.
“I have a dream home, my house is beautiful. My wife did a great job putting our house together finding the right house for us. We have two nice cars, we have three beautiful dogs. But with all that said, I haven’t enjoyed not one part of it,” the two-time pro bowler said in a press conference at the Miami Dolphins facility.
Marshall said he has suffered from the illness for years, but now that he has been diagnosed, he wants to be “the face of BPD,” with hopes of helping others who suffer from the same disorder.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), treating BPD requires extensive mental health services, and even psychiatric hospitalization. ABC News said Marshall spent $60,000 this spring/summer at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass., a facility where his illness was diagnosed. He told the Sun-Sentinel “by no means” is he “healed or fixed,” but he has an interest in helpings others like himself.
“I’ll make myself vulnerable if it saves someone’s life,” Marshall said, “because I know what I went through this summer helped save mine.”