Stop Walking on Eggshells; Coping When Someone You Care about Has Borderline Personality Disorder

Rating:
Summary: Extremely helpful and insightful
Review: Four years ago, my family imploded in crisis. My sister suffered a complete psychotic break and my entire family was at an utter loss as to why. I began doing research into what went wrong and realized she was a "poster child," as it were, for BPD. I searched for something that would not just explain using the dry language of DSM-IV, but would actually help me figure out WHAT TO DO.

This book strikes the right balance between providing enough clinical descriptions and keeping the nonpsychologist/nonscientist interested. It helped me tremendously in not only understanding my sister, but my mother (who is undiagnosed BPD) and me (I have some BPD traits but not a full blown disorder).

It also gives the reader hope that there is something that the nonBPD can do to cope if the nonBPD chooses to maintain a relationship. I highly recommend it to anyone who DOESN'T want to sever their relationship with a loved one who has BPD.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book, realistic and balanced
Review: Living with a BPD is different then reading about them, but not in this book. I consulted with "experts" about my former spouse who has BPD their impressions are MUCH different then the actual experience. When seeking counseling I was blamed for her outrageous behavior, as anyone who has lived with a BPD they begin their formation at very early ages. The book was surprising in the honestly from those recovering from BPD. While married to a BPD I heard the "real story" behind many of the events of her childhood (from her) those events were never discussed as honestly in front of counselors. This book was both illuminating and liberating to finally hear groups of people echoing my own experiences. Even the frank quotations read like a script of my marriage it left me feeling like the problem was so thoroughly understood that it left me no more question in my mind about my own sanity. If someone you love has ever threatened to kill themselves, cut themselves, if you have had a conversation with that person and felt like "was I really there when we talked about this?", or if you have been arrested 3-4 times without knowing why until the court date, you really need to buy this book.