The Mediating Effects of Borderline Personality Disorder Stigma on Work Stress and Precarity

Prior research has shown that people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) face functional impairments due to the severity of BPD symptomatology. These issues extend to the workplace, where people with BPD experience more negative workplace outcomes than healthy workers. Our study contributes to this literature by utilizing stigma theory to examine the role of stigma in occupational stress and work precarity on a nonclinical sample of employees with a reported BPD diagnosis (N = 159) and those with other disorders (N = 202). Specifically, we find that compared to employees with other mental disorders, employees with a reported BPD diagnosis experienced increased occupational stress and work history and reduced working hours and wages, and that these effects are partially explained by increases in workplace stigmatization. These findings demonstrate the role that stereotypes and prejudice can play in hindering the workplace experiences of employees with BPD.