Twenty-year-old Isabelle Galus sometimes finds herself wishing she had bipolar disorder.

“I wish I could just have this well-known illness that they know how to treat, and that allows my friends and family to predict when — and for how long — those manic and depressive swings will last,” Galus told Revelist. “It'd be easier on everyone.”

Instead, Galus suffers from borderline personality disorder (BPD), a mental disorder characterized by mood swings, erratic behavior, and unstable self-image. People with BPD often suffer a crippling fear of abandonment, and engage in unstable relationships and dangerous behaviors.

While BPD affects almost as many people as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder combined, researchers know much less about it. That’s likely because the American Psychiatric Association only officially recognized the disorder in 1980 — nearly 30 years after it first recognized schizophrenia and bipolar.

The lack of knowledge around BPD makes it difficult to treat. Sufferers are disproportionately likely to drop out of treatment, or become abusive toward their doctor, leaving many physicians at a loss. The Food and Drug administration has yet to approve a drug to treat BPD.

Perhaps more damaging, however, is the amount of misinformation about the disorder. Revelist spoke with five women who suffer from BPD and asked them to clear up the most common misconceptions. These are their responses.

