The McLean Study Gave Hope to People Living with Borderline Personality Disorder

For many years, people diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) were told they would never truly get better. Some were even turned away from treatment because clinicians believed the disorder was too difficult to treat.

Imagine hearing that when you’re already struggling just to make it through the day.

Thankfully, we know something very different today.

Thanks to decades of research—including one of the most important studies ever conducted on Borderline Personality Disorder—we now know that people can and do recover from BPD. Recovery isn’t always quick, and it isn’t always easy, but it is absolutely possible.

For those of us at Suffolk DBT who provide Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), this isn’t just something we read in research journals. It’s something we have the privilege of witnessing every day.

A Study That Changed the Way We Think About Borderline Personality Disorder

In 1992, researchers at McLean Hospital, affiliated with Harvard Medical School, set out to answer an important question:

What really happens to people with Borderline Personality Disorder over time?

To find out, they followed 362 adults diagnosed with BPD, evaluating them every two years for more than 24 years. Today, it remains the longest prospective study ever conducted on Borderline Personality Disorder and has fundamentally changed the way clinicians understand this diagnosis.

The Results Were More Hopeful Than Anyone Expected

For decades, Borderline Personality Disorder was viewed as a lifelong condition with little hope for improvement. The McLean Study told a very different story.

Researchers found that nearly every participant experienced remission, meaning they no longer met the diagnostic criteria for Borderline Personality Disorder at some point during the study.

Even more encouraging, recovery wasn’t temporary. Among those who recovered, approximately 77% remained in remission for at least 12 years, showing that lasting improvement is not only possible—it is common.

The researchers also discovered that about 60% achieved what they defined as true recovery. That meant more than having fewer symptoms. It meant building meaningful relationships, maintaining work or school, becoming more independent, and creating a life that felt worth living.

Think about that for a moment.

For years, many people were told they would never recover from Borderline Personality Disorder. Now, we have research to point to that says otherwise.

Recovery Is About More Than Feeling Better

One of the things we appreciate most about the McLean Study is that it reminds us recovery is about much more than reducing symptoms.

Recovery means returning to school. Finding meaningful work. Repairing relationships. Learning to trust yourself again. Laughing more than you cry. Looking forward to tomorrow instead of simply surviving today.

Many participants experienced relief from their symptoms before they fully rebuilt their lives—and that’s okay.

Healing often happens one step at a time.

The study also found that people without a co-occurring substance use disorder were more likely to achieve full recovery. This doesn’t mean recovery isn’t possible if you’re struggling with addiction. It simply highlights the importance of treating both Borderline Personality Disorder and substance use together. When both are addressed with evidence-based treatment, the chances of long-term recovery improve.

What Does This Mean for DBT?

Dialectical Behavior Therapy was developed specifically for people who struggle with overwhelming emotions, impulsive behaviors, self-harm, chronic suicidal thoughts, and relationship difficulties.

DBT doesn’t promise a perfect life. Instead, it teaches practical skills to help people regulate emotions, tolerate distress, improve relationships, reduce impulsive behaviors, and build a life that feels meaningful.

At Suffolk DBT, we’ve watched people who once believed they would never feel better gradually build lives they never thought were possible. We’ve seen individuals return to college. Repair relationships with their families. Stop self-harming. Develop healthy friendships. Find careers they enjoy. Become parents. Laugh again.

That doesn’t happen because someone suddenly becomes a different person. It happens because people learn new ways of responding to pain, practice those skills consistently, and discover that change really is possible.

Hope Is Supported by Science

One of the greatest gifts the McLean Study gave us wasn’t simply the statistics. It gave people hope.

It challenged the outdated belief that Borderline Personality Disorder is untreatable. It reminded families that recovery is possible. And it reminded people living with BPD that a diagnosis does not define their future.

Recovery doesn’t mean you’ll never struggle again. It means you no longer have to let your struggles define your life.

Whether you’re newly diagnosed, have lived with Borderline Personality Disorder for years, or you’re a parent searching for answers, we want you to know this: There is hope.

Not because we’re trying to be optimistic, but because decades of research have shown that recovery is possible.

Suffolk DBT Helps People with BPD Everyday

At Suffolk DBT, we provide comprehensive Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for adolescents, adults, college students, and families throughout Long Island (With offices in Roslyn, Babylon, Mount Sinai, and Manhattan) and across New York through telehealth.

Our comprehensive DBT program includes:

• Individual DBT therapy
• Weekly DBT skills training groups
• Between-session phone coaching
• Daily diary cards
• Behavioral chain analysis
• Family involvement when appropriate
• A DBT consultation team that supports your therapist in providing adherent, evidence-based care

Our goal isn’t simply to reduce symptoms. Our goal is to help you build a life that feels meaningful, connected, and worth living.

If you’re struggling today, don’t assume that today is how your story ends.

The research says recovery is possible. 

We’ve seen it.

And we’d be honored to help you begin that journey.

References

1. Zanarini MC, et al. The 24-Year Course of Symptomatic Disorders in Patients With Borderline Personality Disorder and Other Personality Disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry.
2. McLean Hospital. Highly Treatable: Lessons Learned From the Decades-Long Borderline Personality Disorder Study.
3. Zanarini MC, Frankenburg FR, Hennen J, Silk KR. The Longitudinal Course of Borderline Psychopathology: Six-Year Prospective Follow-Up of the Phenomenology of Borderline Personality Disorder.