My favorite books for understanding and helping those with borderline personality

Why am I passionate about this?

As a psychiatrist, I've had a special interest over the past forty years in working with patients with symptoms of BPD, preceding even the formalization of the diagnosis. I've been intrigued by these patients who often display enormous intelligence, creativity, and energy, yet are handicapped by emotions and behaviors that are out of their control. I established one of the early treatment centers specifically designed for their treatment. Where once these patients were stigmatized by professionals and others to be bothersome, untreatable, chronically suicidal, and to be avoided, I've witnessed great advancements in treatment approaches. We now appreciate that the vast majority of patients get better. It's been a privilege for me to participate in these advances.


I wrote...

Talking to a Loved One with Borderline Personality Disorder: Communication Skills to Manage Intense Emotions, Set Boundaries, and Reduce Conflict

By Jerold J. Kreisman,

Book cover of Talking to a Loved One with Borderline Personality Disorder: Communication Skills to Manage Intense Emotions, Set Boundaries, and Reduce Conflict

What is my book about?

My other books and papers describing borderline personality disorder (BPD) focus on the description of BPD for a general audience and provide referenced data for professionals. This book specifically describes practical approaches for a loved one to confront common dilemmas when interacting with someone with symptoms of BPD. Described communication skills will help you interact with a loved one with a volatile personality.

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of I'm Not Supposed to Be Here: My Recovery from Borderline Personality Disorder

Jerold J. Kreisman Why did I love this book?

This is a personal and very candid account of a woman's confronting a diagnosis of BPD, complicated by an eating disorder and other self-sabotaging behavior, and working with her psychiatrist and others to support her on a road to recovery. The author examines her disruptive childhood and the obstacles impairing her recovery. Her openness and courage are inspiring.

By Rachel Reiland,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked I'm Not Supposed to Be Here as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

With astonishing honesty, this memoir reveals what mental illness looks and feels like from the inside, and how healing from borderline personality disorder is possible through intensive therapy and the support of loved ones.

With astonishing honesty, this memoir, Get Me Out of Here, reveals what mental illness looks and feels like from the inside, and how healing from borderline personality disorder is possible through intensive therapy and the support of loved ones. A mother, wife, and working professional, Reiland was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder at the age of 29--a diagnosis that finally explained her explosive anger, manipulative behaviors,…


Book cover of Stop Walking on Eggshells: Taking Your Life Back When Someone You Care about Has Borderline Personality Disorder

Jerold J. Kreisman Why did I love this book?

This book is directed for families who are feeling guilty, angry, intimidated, or overwhelmed by a loved one with BPD. There is practical advice for family members and loved ones that can help them understand BPD. The book provides communication skills that help instill boundaries that can protect both the individual with BPD and those around him or her.

By Paul T T Mason, Randi Kreger,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Stop Walking on Eggshells as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Stop Walking on Eggshells has already helped more than a million people with friends and family members suffering from borderline personality disorder (BPD) understand this difficult disorder, set boundaries, and help their loved ones to stop relying on dangerous behaviors. This fully revised and updated third edition includes the very latest BPD research, extensive new information on narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), comorbidity and the effectiveness of schema therapy, and includes coping and communication skills readers can use to stabilize their relationship with the BPD or NPD sufferer in their life.

Isn't it time you stopped walking on eggshells? Learn how…


Book cover of Girl, Interrupted

Jerold J. Kreisman Why did I love this book?

Over the last twenty years, several memoirs have been written about an author’s experience with BPD. This is one of the first. The author describes her struggles at a time when BPD was not well understood and before focused treatment programs were developed. Her experience in a renowned hospital describes her suffering and that of other psychiatric patients she encounters there. The book also illustrates how some caretakers misunderstand and mistreat patients.

By Susanna Kaysen,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Girl, Interrupted as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Futaro Uesugi is a second-year in high school, scraping to get by and pay off his family's debt. The only thing he can do is study, so when Futaro receives a part-time job offer to tutor the five daughters of a wealthy businessman, he can't pass it up. Little does he know, these five beautiful sisters are quintuplets, but the only thing they have in common is that they're all terrible at studying! At this rate, the sisters can't graduate, and Futaro must think of a plan that suits each of them - which feels hopeless when five-out-of-five of these…


Book cover of The Borderline Personality Disorder Workbook: An Integrative Program to Understand and Manage Your Bpd

Jerold J. Kreisman Why did I love this book?

This book is directed to someone who identifies with symptoms of BPD. It is a workbook with an emphasis on work! It is not designed to cure BPD, but to help the individual more productively address dysfunctional behavior. With scales and forms to fill out, the individual reader can confront specific problems.

By Daniel J. Fox,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Borderline Personality Disorder Workbook as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Introducing a breakthrough, integrative approach to managing your borderline personality disorder (BPD). If you've been diagnosed with BPD you may feel a number of emotions - including shock, shame, sadness, abandonment, emptiness, or even anger. Even worse, you may be tempted to research your diagnosis online, only to find doomsday scenarios and terrible prognoses everywhere you click. Take a deep breath. You can get through this - and this workbook will help guide you. Despite what you may have read or been told, BPD is not the worst thing that can happen to you. Like many mental health issues, it…


Book cover of Handbook of Good Psychiatric Management for Borderline Personality Disorder

Jerold J. Kreisman Why did I love this book?

This book, authored by a pioneer in the understanding of the BPD concept, is directed to professionals. However, for the lay reader, many concepts will be enlightening. The book emerged from a realization that most mental health professionals were unfamiliar with highly specialized treatment programs but could provide “good enough” treatment. The book demystifies the disorder and offers pragmatic approaches to treatment, with emphasis on the need for partnership between therapist and patient.

By John G. Gunderson, Paul S. Links,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Handbook of Good Psychiatric Management for Borderline Personality Disorder as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The diagnosis and treatment of patients with BPD can be fraught with anxiety, uncertainty, and complexity. How welcome, then, is the Handbook of Good Psychiatric Management for Borderline Personality Disorder, which teaches clinicians what to do and how to do it, as well as what not to do and how to avoid it. The author, a renowned researcher and clinician, has developed a new evidence-based treatment, Good Psychiatric Management (GPM) that comfortably utilizes cognitive, behavioral, and psychodynamic interventions that are practical and simple to implement. Because psychoeducation is an important component of GPM, the book teaches clinicians how to educate…


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Book cover of Adventures in the Radio Trade: A Memoir

Joe Mahoney Author Of Adventures in the Radio Trade: A Memoir

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Broadcaster Family man Dog person Aspiring martial artist

Joe's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

Adventures in the Radio Trade documents a life in radio, largely at Canada's public broadcaster. It's for people who love CBC Radio, those interested in the history of Canadian Broadcasting, and those who want to hear about close encounters with numerous luminaries such as Margaret Atwood, J. Michael Straczynski, Stuart McLean, Joni Mitchell, Peter Gzowski, and more. And it's for people who want to know how to make radio.

Crafted with gentle humour and thoughtfulness, this is more than just a glimpse into the internal workings of CBC Radio. It's also a prose ode to the people and shows that make CBC Radio great.

By Joe Mahoney,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Adventures in the Radio Trade as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"In dozens of amiable, frequently humorous vignettes... Mahoney fondly recalls his career as a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio technician in this memoir... amusing and highly informative."
— Kirkus Reviews

"What a wonderful book! If you love CBC Radio, you'll love Adventures in the Radio Trade. Joe Mahoney's honest, wise, and funny stories from his three decades in broadcasting make for absolutely delightful reading!
— Robert J. Sawyer, author of The Oppenheimer Alternative''

"No other book makes me love the CBC more."
— Gary Dunford, Page Six
***
Adventures in the Radio Trade documents a life in radio, largely at Canada's…


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Interested in borderline personality disorder, psychiatric hospitals, and mental health?

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