BPD Day 24 Jay's Story of Lived Experience

Jay Cavanagh, BA, MA (He/Him) is a self-identifying gay and first-generation doctoral student at the University of Calgary. His thesis research aims to explore sensory experiences of the borderline through recovery processes inside the clinic and externally of it. A self-identifying member of the BPD community, Jay's work takes up the task of reorienting understandings of the borderline personality through lived-experience lenses. It sets out to frustrate the many ways in which society suppresses and systemically others neurodivergent ways of being and feeling, considering how we might benefit from reimagining the spectrum of human emotion. Jay divides his time between his academic work and community projects, serving not just as a peer facilitator but also, for example, as a co-host of The BPD Bunch, a video podcast by and for people living with BPD. Jay comes to this work in the hope that his experience might help to illustrate that recovery is possible and life is worth living. Outside of his studies and community work, Jay has lived and worked in Brazil as a teacher, and continues to support greater access to further education through guest lectures and partnerships with peers in South America.