Sometimes I Act Crazy: Living with Borderline Personality Disorder

ISBN-13: 9780471792147 / Angielski / Miękka / 2006 / 256 str.

Hal Straus

Opis

A source of hope, expert advice, and guidance for people with borderline personality disorder and those who love them

Do you experience frightening, often violent mood swings that make you fear for your sanity? Are you often depressed? Do you engage in self-destructive behaviors such as drug or alcohol abuse, anorexia, compulsive eating, self-cutting, and hair pulling? Do you feel empty inside, or as if you don't know who you are? Do you dread being alone and fear abandonment? Do you have trouble finishing projects, keeping a job, or forming lasting relationships?

If you or someone you love answered yes to the majority of these questions, there's a good chance that you or that person suffers from borderline personality disorder, a commonly misunderstood and misdiagnosed psychological problem afflicting tens of millions of people. Princess Diana was one of the most well-known BPD sufferers.

As a source of hope and practical advice for BPD sufferers and those who love them, this new book by Dr. Jerold J. Kreisman and Hal Straus, bestselling authors of I Hate You, Don't Leave Me, offers proven techniques that help you:
* Manage mood swings
* Develop lasting relationships
* Improve your self-esteem
* Keep negative thoughts at bay
* Control destructive impulses
* Understand your treatment options
* Find professional help

Spis treści

A Note to the Reader.

Preface.

Acknowledgments.

1. Borderline Basics. Action Steps: A Quick BPD Checklist.

2. Fears of Abandonment. Action Steps: Dealing with Borderline Fears of  Abandonment.

3. Unstable Interpersonal relationships. Action Steps: Dealing with Intense Relationships.

4. Identity Disturbance. Action Steps: Establishing a Sense of Self.

5. Destructive Impulsivity. Action Steps: Managing Impulsivity.

6. Suicidal Behaviors and Self–Mutilation. Action Steps: Dealing with Self–Destructive Behaviors.

7. Mood Instability.

8. Emptiness. Action Steps: Filling the Emptiness.

9. Anger. Action Steps: Strategies for Coping with borderline Rage.

10. reality Distortions: Paranoia and Dissociation. Action Steps: Dealing with Borderline Psychosis.

11. Treatment Strategies and Communication Techniques. Action Steps: Finding the Right Therapist. Action Steps: General Approaches to Communication.

12. Prognosis and Directions of Future Research.

Resources.

Notes.

Index.

O autorze

JEROLD J. KREISMAN, M.D., is a psychiatrist and leading world expert on Borderline Personality Disorder. His 1989 bestseller, I Hate You, Don′t Leave Me, is considered a classic of both the popular and academic literature on BPD.

HAL STRAUS has written five books and numerous articles for such magazines as Ladies′ Home Journal, Men′s Health, and Redbook.

Blurb

"Kreisman′s commentary is expert. . . . [He] incorporates advances in the understanding of BPD that have been made in the last fifteen years, as well as new case studies and anecdotes. . . . Narrative descriptions . . . are packed with behaviors that Kreisman then proceeds to take up and unfold, all the while . . . making suggestions for how to cope, verbally or otherwise, with a host of Borderline behaviors."
–Publishers Weekly

Do you experience frightening mood swings? Are you oversensitive to rejection or prone to violent outbursts? Are you often depressed? Do you dread being alone and fear abandonment? Do you engage in self–destructive behaviors such as drug abuse or eating disorders? Do you feel empty inside? Do you have trouble keeping a job or forming lasting relationships?

If you or someone you love can answer yes to many of these questions, there′s a good chance that you or that person suffers from Borderline Personality Disorder, a commonly misunderstood and misdiagnosed psychological problem afflicting millions of people.

In this book, the bestselling authors of I Hate You, Don′t Leave Me offer BPD sufferers and their loved ones a new source of hope. After reading this book, you will understand the disorder and know what steps to take to help you make your life happier and more rewarding, whether you suffer from BPD yourself or love someone who does. Drawing on Dr. Jerold Kreisman′s long experience in treating BPD patients, Sometimes I Act Crazy offers proven, practical advice to help you:

• Manage mood swings
• Develop lasting relationships
• Improve your self–esteem
• Keep negative thoughts at bay
• Control destructive impulses
• Understand your treatment options
• Find professional help