Borderline Personality Disorder Demystified: An Essential Guide for Understanding and Living with BPD (Paperback)

by Robert O. Friedel (Author), Perry D. Hoffman (Foreword), Dixianne Penney (Foreword), Patricia Woodward (Foreword) "THE CAUSES OF borderline disorder often vary in type and degree from one person to another, so it makes sense that the symptoms also vary..." (more)
Key Phrases: people with borderline disorder, developing borderline disorder, treating borderline disorder, American Psychiatric Association, Munchausen's Syndrome, Harvard University (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
According to Friedel, six million Americans suffer from the psychiatric disorder known as borderline personality disorder—and many of these people often go undiagnosed and live in the lonely fear that they simply lack willpower or self-confidence. Friedel, a distinguished clinical professor of psychiatry at Virginia Commonwealth University, steps in to explain this little-known and much-misunderstood disorder, and he offers not only information but hope—many people believe BPD isn’t treatable, but Friedel says that there are effective treatments available. BPD, like many other psychiatric disorders, results from chemical imbalances in the brain, Friedel says. The emotional instability, impulsive behavior and impaired reasoning that often characterize BPD can thus be controlled with therapy and medication, though Friedel also stresses the importance of the patient’s taking responsibility for following through on treatment. For readers who suspect that they or someone they love suffers from BPD, this guide is a good place to start learning how to find help.
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Product Description
Over six million Americans suffer from borderline personality disorder (BPD), a chronic, disabling psychiatric condition that causes extreme instability in their emotional lives, behavior, and self-image and severely impacts their family and friends. But despite the devastation it can cause, borderline personality disorder remains largely overlooked by the medical community, misunderstood by the public, and many people continue to go misdiagnosed or untreated. In Borderline Personality Disorder Demystified, Dr. Robert Friedel, a leading expert on the disorder and a pioneer in its treatment, turns his vast personal experience into a useful and supportive guide for everyone living with and seeking to understand this condition. Friedel sheds light on all the intricacies of borderline personality disorder, such as the course it takes, the difficulties in diagnosing it, and the types of treatment available, and offers effective advice on the best ways to cope with it. Filled with wisdom and encouragement, Borderline Personality Disorder Demystified is essential reading for everyone diagnosed with BPD, those who think they might have the illness, and friends and family who love and support them.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press; 1 edition (August 3, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569244561
• ISBN-13: 978-1569244562
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,872 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #15 in	Books > Health, Mind & Body > Psychology & Counseling > Pathologies
  #17 in	Books > Health, Mind & Body > Mental Health > Personality Disorders
  #19 in	Books > Health, Mind & Body > Psychology & Counseling > Clinical Psychology

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

101 of 103 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite comprehensive book on BPD: Life affirming, August 16, 2004

By	Coral "shanhuolsen" (Greater Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

Living with BPD and other psychiatric conditions, I have found this book to be by far the best overall book on the subject and my favorite -- and I've read about ten. Before you read on, Please know that there is help for you and your family: this book is a best place to start!! The author shows deep compassion and a brilliant mind throughout the text. His sister suffered from BPD and he is a pioneer in the pharmocological treatment of BPD.
While he is wonderfully balanced in his belief in tandem psychiatric and psychological treatment, which he feels is essential for optimal treatment, and the genetic, biological, and enviornmental view of the etiology of the illness, he thoroughly presents you with his and the latest biological and pharmocological (and other) understanding. He is the first to acknowledge in a book, to my knowledge, the possibility of BPD forming in the womb: yay!!
I love many other aspects of this book, including the resources in the back of advocacy organizations, research and treatment programs, and etc.
You will be helping save your life and/or its quality, as well as your family, if you read this...!

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent overall broad reference and resource written from compassionate place, August 8, 2006

By	Patrick D. Goonan "www.meaningful-life.us" (Pleasanton, CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This is an excellent overall resource for BPD. It covers the history, causes and course of the disorder as well as the most common treatments both pharmacologically and therapeutically.

The scope of the book is very broad and includes information for family members, lots of additional resources, co-occurring disorders and how this problem shows up in children.

If you have a scientific bent, you will benefit a lot from the chapter on BPD and the brain. There is a lot of detail on the specific neural pathways involved in impulsive behavior, memory impairment, etc. This information is nicely summarized in easy to understand diagrams and there is a simplified bottom line explanation at the end of the chapter. This section is well explained and anyone should be able to understand it, even people intimidated by scientific explanations.

The overall tone of the book is compassionate and hopeful. The author had a sister who had this order and a lot of his motivation for writing it comes from this space of caring and wanting to share both his experience and knowledge. Being a psychiatrist, he dovetails deep knowledge with understanding and compassion.

As you may know, BPD is often misdiagnosed and this book helps differentiate multiple things that may be going on and explains how to get clear on whether or not BPD is really something that is going on. I think this is a very important section and it provides enough detail to be useful, but in general he keeps his explanations of other disorders short and to the point.

The discussion of psychotherapies is excellent and collected into an excellent summary of which ones are best and the indication for when to use them. There is a misconception that the prognosis for Borderline Disorder is not very good among many people, this is dispelled in this book and the supporting arguments for this conclusion are good.

An added bonus is current research needs and directions. If you have BPD, you will be very interested in knowing where this area is headed and hearing about the cutting edge of today's research.

I think the book could have benefited from better organization, design and more careful editing. However, the content is excellent and there is a lot of useful information in a relatively small space. This book is a one-stop resource and a nice compliment to other books that focus on one particular dimension of this issue. The shortcoming in how the information is organized and presented is my only reason for giving it a four rating, the content is excellent and it's a fairly easy read for most people.

I have a good background in psychology and also in physiology and biochemistry. At one time, I did drug research and currently I work in the psychology field. I have read a number of books on this topic and this is one of the best.

42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BPD Truly "Demystified", September 1, 2004

By	Barbara Hamon "musician" (Boise, ID) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Thank God for Dr. Friedel's compassionate, informational, and helpful book. Finally a book to replace "I Hate You..." which is outdated. I suffer from BPD and am just now coming to terms with the illness. I am a mental health professional who has been used to all the "inside" jokes about BPD. I have been terrified of the diagnosis but can no longer reject it. This book has taught me that I am not alone, and that I am not a big freak. Everything I experience (and that those in my life experience with me) is real. It is full of information about treatment and is also full of acceptance and hope. Of any book that I would recommend for both professionals and persons with BPD, THIS would be the one!!!!