Michi Mavros is a content creator, small business owner, mother, and advocate for mental health. Michi herself is someone that lives with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and is outspoken about what it is like through her work. Her content on social media platforms serves to provide advice, inform, and lead discussions around BPD.
When it comes to having to describe herself, Michi shares that it is difficult to pinpoint an exact answer.
“Many people with borderline personality disorder find it hard to answer that question because it changes day to day. There is definitely someone that I want to be, and I believe that I am for the most part. And other times I feel like that is maybe not me.”
Instead, she describes herself by characteristics. Michi Mavros is outspoken, passionate, and communicative. She is someone that openly expresses her feelings without holding back.
When she first launched her YouTube channel, she did it for fun and without planning what topics she would discuss on it. However, she began to share her story of living with BPD after she received her diagnosis and was on a journey of researching more about it. She realized not many people were speaking out about BPD and that it was not fully understood by society. If anything, there was misinformation and misunderstandings around it due to the media portraying it solely as a mental illness connected to violence. When she would tell people she had BPD they did not always react positively. There were a few instances where people would invalidate her feelings, saying she was irrational or a certain way because of her BPD, and dismiss her.
As her videos began to pick up in views, she saw a lot of negative comments flood in. Most of these comments came from people who may have had a bad experience with someone with BPD. However, during this time she also found herself connecting with a lot of people through her story who felt the same way she did or had similar experiences regarding their mental health. She was able to become someone that people with recent diagnoses could turn to for advice or share their feelings. Michi expresses that it feels like we are moving forward in bringing more awareness to mental health in recent years because people are sharing their stories on platforms, the most recent one being TikTok. Yet, there is still a lot of work to be done in mainstream media. She hopes to see media outlets provide a platform for people experiencing mental illnesses so they can share their experiences as well.
Michi expresses that BPD is much more than a personality disorder. It has ultimately made her who she is, and she is someone that feels everything more intensely than others. She at times feels the most intense anger, sadness, and euphoria.
“BPD is not always being in a state of hatred or sadness. There are really beautiful parts to it.”
Another part of Michi is motherhood, she became a mother in March of 2020. When she speaks about her child, she lights up. As a public figure who is open about her own mental health, she felt she did face some prejudice when it came to sharing this part of her life.
“I feel nervous talking about it publicly sometimes because I don’t want people immediately being like, ‘You can’t be a mother, you’d be a terrible mother if you have BPD.’ Recently, I learned how to embrace motherhood, it is such an important and positive thing in my life. I guess I was scared of sharing it, but now I love sharing this part of me. It is definitely one of the most transformative things I’ve been through.”
She further elaborates on what it is like experiencing motherhood as someone with BPD.
“You have to work on your own trauma because it isn’t about you anymore. It’s first and foremost about your child. Even if you’re having a bad day, you have to wake up and be the best parent you can possibly be. There’s a reason for me to get up every day, she is incredible.”
Michi’s entire work revolves around awareness, this can be seen through her clothing brand-BPD RELATABLE. She began this business during the pandemic as she wanted to incorporate mental health into it and make it a brand other artists could participate in.
“I wanted it to be collaborative. So everyone can go and see everyone else’s experience in a positive way. Sharing art and showing that people with mental illnesses are usually more creative and can use their past experiences to create beautiful art.”
With her advocacy work and more open conversations surrounding mental health, Michi hopes to minimize the stigma around BPD. She would like to see children’s mental health treated at the same level of importance as physical health and for them to learn good habits in terms of coping mechanisms to avoid unhealthy ones later in life. Please learn more about Michi on Instagram and YouTube.
