Story highlights Matthew Busch photographed a woman living with borderline personality disorder

The mental illness is characterized by emotional instability and periods of depression and anxiety

(CNN) When photographer Matthew Busch met Angela Klein while she was walking her dog, he was immediately struck by her openness. But he had no idea that the chance meeting would lead to his camera bearing witness to a year's worth of moments on the emotional spectrum.

Klein had been recently diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, a severe mental illness characterized by emotional instability and periods of depression and anxiety that are uncontrollable and overwhelming. But she has struggled her entire life. She had a traumatic childhood and started harming herself at an early age. In addition to cutting herself, she said, she has also experienced an eating disorder and harmful thoughts and emotions that lowered her self-esteem.

Before meeting Busch, Klein had experienced a pivotal breakdown where she felt like she was losing control. She was working through the therapy process when they met.

Photographer Matthew Busch

The diagnosis brought some relief for Klein because she was able to seek help through a private treatment facility, but she would also have to work through her illness -- both on her own and with the help of her husband, Jeff, and their four children. What followed was "Angela's Beautiful Life," a year of Busch documenting the family's triumphs and struggles, from smiles to tears.

"To let me take photos of someone and their family takes so much courage," Busch said. "Angela wants to help other people with her story of how to keep going and moving through it."

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