Imbroglio: Rising to the Challenges of Borderline Personality Disorder [Hardcover]

Janice M. Cauwels (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1992

A guide to borderline personality disorder, which is a very complex, serious, and widespread psychiatric illness. A painful and often intractable illness, it involves pervasive instability of emotions, behaviour, relationships and self-image. This is a full introduction to the disorder, which brings together the current thinking and research of experts in the field. It explains what this illness is, what causes it, and what can be done about it. The illness is presented from various psychoanalytical, biological, historical, social and feminist perspectives, while noting the current focus on the trauma histories of many borderline patients.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 414 pages
• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc; 1st Printing edition (May 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 039303349X
• ISBN-13: 978-0393033496
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #131,690 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #83 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Mental Health > Personality Disorders

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I was hoping for an authoritative account of BPD, August 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Imbroglio: Rising to the Challenges of Borderline Personality Disorder (Hardcover)

This book is probably a good introduction to Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) for someone who is first reading about this disorder. Personally, I was looking for something a little more rigorous and authoritative. The author admits to having no special expertise in the subject, but has interviewed experts and others to arrive at her understanding of BPD. If you're looking for a top-notch, clear and understandable discussion of BPD, I would recommend Marsha Linehan's "Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder." It offers an expertly written account by someone who is actively treating borderline patients and is on the cutting edge of the current scientific research on BPD.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A BPDs best friend., September 18, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Imbroglio: Rising to the Challenges of Borderline Personality Disorder (Hardcover)

Having been diagnosed with BPD, I found this book helpful in many ways. It helped me to see what other's were seeing in my actions. It helped me know that I "wasn't crazy." It helped me to see how I could help those near me to help and understand me, and my illness. For other's with this diagnosis, I do want to add that some of the testimonies can hit a little too close to home.

27 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A comprehensive overview of current thinking on BPD, December 9, 1999

By 

Robert Johnson (Bend, OR, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Imbroglio: Rising to the Challenges of Borderline Personality Disorder (Hardcover)

This book is the one I finally bought for myself out of all the current books on the subject. It successfully walks a fine line between being too overly "popular" in nature to be useful and too achademicly oriented to be readable. At 400 pages it is not a casual read. Be ready for occasionally dense and often contrary insights from most of the "big thinkers" in the field. Perhaps not the first book you should buy on this subject but a highly recomended next step for any person desiring to extend their knowledge beyond the level of what is in the generally recomended popular books on this still mysterious subject.