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The Everything Guide to Borderline Personality Disorder: Professional, reassuring advice for coping with the disorder and breaking the destructive cycle
Affecting more than five million people in the United States, borderline personality disorder, also called emotional regulation disorder, has become more common than Alzheimer's, and nearly that of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia combined. Marked by bouts of violence and anger coupled with desperate and fixated love, this disorder is just now being recognized as a true mental illness. The Everything Guide to Borderline Personality Disorder is the professional yet compassionate guide that readers need to explore and understand the tumultuous world of BPD, offering information Featuring the latest therapy information on mindfulness meditation and behavioral relaxation, The Everything Guide to Borderline Personality Disorder is the comprehensive resource for families, spouses, and friends dealing with this psychological epidemic.
304 pages, Paperback
First published December 15, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 29, 2012
Rating: 3 of 5
This guide was definitely geared more toward people who deal with borderline personalities than people with BPD, which I was hoping it would.
The first chapters didn't offer much in the way of new information for anyone who's done simple research on BPD, but it would be a solid introduction for newbies. Chapters 8, 12 and 16 proved most informative for me, someone who interacts with BPD people on a regular basis. Specifically pages 205, 218, 256, and 260-265.
The entire book was well-organized, concise, and written in easy-to-understand language. Overall, it was just too general; there was a little bit on everything, but not an in-depth examination of any one topic.
This guide was definitely geared more toward people who deal with borderline personalities than people with BPD, which I was hoping it would.
The first chapters didn't offer much in the way of new information for anyone who's done simple research on BPD, but it would be a solid introduction for newbies. Chapters 8, 12 and 16 proved most informative for me, someone who interacts with BPD people on a regular basis. Specifically pages 205, 218, 256, and 260-265.
The entire book was well-organized, concise, and written in easy-to-understand language. Overall, it was just too general; there was a little bit on everything, but not an in-depth examination of any one topic.
August 13, 2012
This book is mostly for people who know people with BPD. It leaves out a lot of information that might be necessary for people with the actual disorder. It also focuses solely on the fact that it sucks.
If I were reading this book as someone who was recently diagnosed with this disorder I would feel terrified and hopeless by the end.
It is true that not a lot is known about the disorder and I think that the author was having trouble filling pages (It became repetitive) but a chapter focusing on people who have the disorder and do positive things with their lives would have helped with that.
This book was mostly geared toward people who know others with BPD who are untreated and at the very worst end of the spectrum.
If I were reading this book as someone who was recently diagnosed with this disorder I would feel terrified and hopeless by the end.
It is true that not a lot is known about the disorder and I think that the author was having trouble filling pages (It became repetitive) but a chapter focusing on people who have the disorder and do positive things with their lives would have helped with that.
This book was mostly geared toward people who know others with BPD who are untreated and at the very worst end of the spectrum.
2012-reads
May 5, 2012This book was terrible. A lot of it seemed to be aimed at helping friends/family of people with BPD cope with such a histrionic, irrational, awful person. Could have been better titled "The Everything Guide to Hating Yourself if you Have Borderline Personality Disorder."
December 11, 2012
I super-skimmed it, because I've already read books on this topic and just wanted to see what this one had that's new/different. Plus the format of the book makes skimming very easy.
Here's what I got out of it and want to remember:
- BPD has a very high comorbidity with other disorders.
- Identity disturbance - unable to adapt to change - painful uncoherence/inconsistency/paranoia
- Gender bias in diagnosis is common - males often diagnosed with narcisicist/avoidant/antisocial PDs instead of BPD.
- Emotional instability, plays "victim" - cannot process fault
- Bullying is a common defence, deep denial, manipulate reality, distorted memories, black-and-white thought process
- Pages 220-222: Direct and supportive approach, say only truth, acknowledge what is unknown, remain calm and supportive, don't apologize for not knowing something but do tell them you are sorry they feel bad, remind them that you are trying to help, don't defend or deny, acknowledge their feelings and allow them to speak, don't tell them they are wrong, don't agree with anything that is false or wrong in some way, empathize but don't say you understand something you do not, ask for clarification and explanation to better understand, break the normal pattern of communication, avoid making accusations, begin with a different message, don't react to painful words that are spoken and do not fall back on old responses.
Here's what I got out of it and want to remember:
- BPD has a very high comorbidity with other disorders.
- Identity disturbance - unable to adapt to change - painful uncoherence/inconsistency/paranoia
- Gender bias in diagnosis is common - males often diagnosed with narcisicist/avoidant/antisocial PDs instead of BPD.
- Emotional instability, plays "victim" - cannot process fault
- Bullying is a common defence, deep denial, manipulate reality, distorted memories, black-and-white thought process
- Pages 220-222: Direct and supportive approach, say only truth, acknowledge what is unknown, remain calm and supportive, don't apologize for not knowing something but do tell them you are sorry they feel bad, remind them that you are trying to help, don't defend or deny, acknowledge their feelings and allow them to speak, don't tell them they are wrong, don't agree with anything that is false or wrong in some way, empathize but don't say you understand something you do not, ask for clarification and explanation to better understand, break the normal pattern of communication, avoid making accusations, begin with a different message, don't react to painful words that are spoken and do not fall back on old responses.
February 21, 2015
This book seemed to really focus on extremes of the disorder. Its a good intro book for those who know nothing about the disorder. Very easy to skim through. Focused more on people that know others with the disorder than those with the disorder. I would recommend reading another book in addition to this one for more information.
February 25, 2012
This is my Fielding classmate and good friend!
April 24, 2013
An okay book, good for skimming. A really, really general book, didn't offer much insight.
February 1, 2014
Basic, to the point, and fairly accurate from a personal perspective.
January 25, 2023
I really needed to read this. It had so much what I was looking for and trying to figure out. I can't even describe how glad I'am to have read this. It clarified so many things.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews