bpd representation in fruits basket
hi, i’m going to talk about bpd representation in fruits basket for a bit. i’m posting this on my mental health blog rather than my fandom blog, because i don’t want my followers there to know that i have a bpd diagnosis.
i saw a post going around about a headcanon that akito has bpd (borderline personality disorder). i have also thought to myself at times that akito does show signs of bpd. definitely. however, she’s just one of several characters in fruits basket that do. my concern is that akito is such a toxic character that labelling her with bpd may contribute to the harmful stigma about bpd that is out there. that is why, if we’re going to mention bpd at all in regards to fruits basket, it’s only fair to mention the other characters too.
bpd is a complicated illness that is not universally agreed upon, and a person only needs to meet five of the nine criteria to be diagnosed. but one thing that is agreed upon is that bpd usually stems from trauma. so it’s only natural that a story about trauma would have multiple characters dealing with bpd-like symptoms in the aftermath of their traumas.
while stigma may make it seem like people with bpd are all like akito, haru is a much more accurate representation of what someone with ‘classic’ bpd actually looks like. someone who is very loving, kind, dedicated, insightful, fun and sweet, but who deals with intensely fluctuating moods. (haru is sometimes labelled as bipolar, but that’s unlikely. bpd mood swings are rapid and responsive to the environment, as opposed to bipolar disorder mood episodes, which last longer and are less responsive to the environment. often if someone has both low and high moods that don’t quite match bipolar disorder, they will get diagnosed with bpd instead. whether that’s a reasonable diagnostic practice, i don’t know.) as a ‘quiet’ borderline i present more like yuki - gentle, careful, self-controlled, attentive to others but shy and untrusting, with issues that mostly go under the radar.
now i’ll go back to talking about akito for a moment. akito’s most prominent symptoms are her angry outbursts and her deep fear of abandonment. but akito is the main antagonist and some of her actions are not caused by bpd at all. for example, what she did to yuki was absolutely not characteristic of what a person with bpd would do, because a) it was calculated and deliberately cruel and b) people with bpd care very much about others. so what she did then was completely her, and was not based on whatever mental health issues she may have. it’s important to not start associating bpd with those actions.
if you’re curious, here are some other characters in fruits basket that have some (possible) signs of bpd, which you can also just think of as signs of trauma if you prefer:
kyo (mood swings, anxiety, depression, impulsivity, splitting on yuki)
kagura (mood swings, idealising and splitting on kyo)
rin (major impulsivity, trust issues, depression, possible splitting on haru and tohru)
shigure (unstable self-image, impulsivity)
ritsu (unstable self-image, guilt, impulsivity, extreme anxiety over relationships with others)
yuki (apart from his pstd/anxiety/depression there’s also his tendency to withdraw from others and have doubts about getting close to people)
ayame (impulsivity and his ‘fear of being regarded with indifference’)
there might be others but that’s all i can think of for now
this is not meant to diagnose any character but rather to show that bpd and trauma symptoms can look very, very different in different people and to issue a psa to please not take akito as a representation of what all people with bpd are like.
edit: if you’re wondering, yes, you can reblog this! thank you if you do.
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