Our Founders
Rosa Nouvini, MD, Roya Nouvini, MBA, and Paula Tusiani-Eng, LMSW, met while participating in the “BPD Awareness Team” at the Metro New York NAMI Walk in May of 2015. They soon discovered that they shared a common bond: each woman had a sibling who struggled with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and it had a devastating impact on them as well as their families. They instantly connected over their passion to raise awareness about this very serious mental disorder.
How We Started
After the NAMI Walk, Paula, Rosa and Roya held focus groups with other members of the BPD Walk team. From these listening sessions emerged a desperate need for social connection among families and individuals affected by BPD. Families also expressed strong desire to raise public awareness about BPD, and advocate for better mental health care. This gave birth to Emotions Matter, Inc. and its mission. Emotions Matter incorporated non-profit organization in New York State in December of 2015.
Why "Emotions Matter"?
Our members discussed at length the name of our new non-profit. Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a mental illness categorized by emotional dysregulation. This means that those impacted by this disorder have difficulty controlling their emotions, which can fluctuate rapidly, cause intense internal turmoil and pain. So, the word “emotions” purposefully explains what BPD is all about.
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is the least recognized mental disorder in the United States, among major mental illnesses with similar prevalence rates (it affects up to 6% of the population). It receives the least funding from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) for research. It is not a recognized diagnostic code for billing purposes by many health insurance companies. It is the among most stigmatized mental health disorder by healthcare professionals. Thus, the word “matter” purposely emphasizes our efforts to make BPD as important as other mental health disorders.
In our name, EMOTIONS MATTER, we want the public, our government, and the clinical community to recognize that emotional disorders like BPD MATTER. People with BPD and their families suffer tremendously and want to be publicly validated with more access to resources, programs, and support.
