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Recently diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)
Mental Health | Last Active: Aug 20 11:42am | Replies (27)Comment receiving replies
I recommend Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), a type of therapy specifically designed to treat people with BPD if/when you feel ready for working on change. I would call around for therapists who do this treatment modality. It can be very helpful to feeling more whole and in control of one's own life. People learn to accept themselves while learning to control emotions and have better social interactions. You can also check out the book and workbook. I'm a retired therapist and I found DBT helpful for both myself and clients!
Replies to "I recommend Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), a type of therapy specifically designed to treat people with..."
@msmerz - I read about this years ago, and one thing that most impressed me about it is that DBT was 'created' by a therapist, Marsha Linehan, PhD - https://depts.washington.edu/uwbrtc/our-team/marsha-linehan/ - who, I understand from a New York Times article I came across years ago - suffered from BPD herself, and came to the realization she needed to share that diagnosis with her patients as well:
https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/23/health/23lives.html?unlocked_article_code=1.-00.bfFN.-wwNAAxnwv1W&smid=url-share
I hope this may be of some help.
@msmerz - I wonder if I could ask you more about DBT? In concept, as I've read about it, I understand it is about managing your emotions (as you mentioned above: "learning to control emotions").
Maybe it's not for me, because when I've read about it, (& I did discuss this briefly with a former psychiatrist), my immediate reaction was to reject it, because of being told and shown all my young (and young adult) life, into the present that my emotions and perceptions were not valid, important or 'convenient', even were to be reviled (as in "how dare you [say that] after all I've done for you?"), and so on. "Stuffing (down) my emotions" by "managing, controlling them" seems fundamentally contrary to my struggle for existence, to be seen as an individual with valid perceptions and life experience.
May I ask you - even briefly here - if DBT offers anything for someone with my experience? Because, at the age of nearly 68 years, I need to be open to other avenues, as I've yet to "crack" the struggle my internal life has been, with its external consequences. (And, BTW, I have had many external successes, but they seem fleeting, I minimize them, and/or they are hard to sustain for any period of time).
Thank you ahead of time. With all due respect, not asking for therapy, but to expand on how DBT is best applied.
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msmerri, DBT, CBT are both great and work well for some people... I have done both twice, I keep a set of brightly colored cards with the helpful hints, next to my recliner. For me, example: reading "radical acceptance " translates to just give up. Then I start thinking (not always a good idea for BPD +MDD with recurring episodes, that now don't recur, cuz the episode is just basically permanent), and being told that radical acceptance is a positive tool, just makes me mad and feel worse about myself. I'm not sure it's even possible to feel worse about myself, the negative/self hatred/stupid failure gremlin inside my head never shuts up.