Borderline Personality Disorder

Rating:
Summary: an excellent look into the disorder
Review: Even though John G. Gunderson's book Borderline Personality Disorder is written about borderlines, and not to them, it offers an excellent look into the disorder for borderlines, acquaintances of borderlines, and people who work with borderlines. For borderlines, it provides a unique voyeuristic look into Gunderson's frank discussion of the borderline disorder, and it's hostages. Dr. Gunderson begins by naming, defining and subdividing the characteristic criteria and shows how they are displayed by the borderline patient. He offers case examples to support his statements. He details such effects as self destructiveness, aggression, anger, validation, splitting, transferences, psychotic regression, depression, devaluation, dissociation, hospitalization, suicide, pharmacotherapy, therapy and therapist attributes. He has one entire chapter devoted to the borderline name called The Term Borderline. Each chapter is summarized and an index avails the reader quick access to particular topics. At no time does the borderline reader need to fear feeling belittled or embarrassed reading this material. Dr. Gunderson describes the borderline patient with respect and understanding throughtout all the book's 204 pages.