The Difficulty Of Being Financially Stable When You Have EUPD

Hi Beth,

I hope you’re keeping well, and that you had a good weekend?

I saw your call for pitches, so thought I’d brave you potentially thinking less of my writing skills and send across my essay idea.

I’m a 30 year old enby freelance writer and journalist, based in the UK, with over nine years experience. You can find some of my bylines at The Independent, Metro, Inverse, to name a few.To give you better insight into my work and me as a person, I’ve included some links to my work, as well as my social media handles:

Previous Bylines:
https://metro.co.uk/2021/03/06/i-constantly-worry-that-im-not-queer-enough-14113005/
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/pill-blood-clots-vaccine-covid-astrazeneca-b1818613.html
https://thefemedic.com/first-person/hypersexuality-response-to-abuse/
https://mercury-magazine.com/2020/11/30/national-health-services-still-dont-know-how-to-treat-lgbtqia-people/
https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/a35549935/scooby-doo-velma-lesbian-queer-lgbtq/

The Difficulty of Being Financially Stable When Living With EUPD

Due to me not knowing how familiar you are with EUPD/BPD, please allow me to give some context: borderline personality disorder has several traits you need to have before receiving a diagnosis, a total of five or more is needed out of the nine symptoms. One such trait is poor impulsivity. This can manifest in various ways, such as being unable to keep inappropriate thoughts to yourself, engaging in risky experiences, and being reckless with spending habits. Unfortunately, I have all three of these reactions. However, I’d argue that my impulsive spending habits have proven to be the most difficult.

As a freelance writer, my income is already unstable and so having this further difficulty on top ensures that financial stability is a real struggle and extremely distressing. I’m fortunate to have a partner who is able to support us both whenever I’m without an income and/or have overspent, however, that in itself isn’t without problems. As you can expect, such impulsivity can cause strain within a relationship, which then further feeds into the self doubt and hatred that this disorder encourages.

I really feel not enough people take impulsive spending seriously, especially in the context of mental illness, which is why I’d love the chance to share my story. My hope is that it helps people realise that they’re not alone in this, as well as showing that mental illness encompasses far more than dark thoughts.