Help! I’ve just been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder… A reference list

I know how you feel!

When I was first diagnosed with Borderline personality Disorder I panicked I had never heard of it, didn’t have a clue what it meant – so the first thing I did was Google it! Scary stuff! The first thing I read was the Wikipedia entry for BPD and while it made disturbing reading I was at the same time checking off all the things it said that matched me – pretty much everything! It confirmed to me that it was clearly an accurate diagnosis but I still had no clue where to look for accurate, helpful information. Having now read a lot about BPD myself I thought it would be helpful to share a variety of the resources that I have found helpful, hence this post…

 

There is a lot of unhelpful, inaccurate, out-of-date and even downright nasty false information out there, its easy to be upset, offended and outright outraged at some of the things you will stumble across, hopefully this list of the ‘better’ things will help you to avoid some of the more damaging, stigmatizing materials around!

Online

I thought would start with the online resources that I have used as this is probably where you will turn to first, while you wait for books you order to arrive etc…

Websites

Some of these are specific to those diagnosed in the UK but others are international, and some are about mental health in general (helpful if you have additional diagnoses) probably all will still be helpful/relevant where ever you may be…

Mind

The UK’s national Mental health charity – this link takes you straight to their BPD factsheet but have a good look around as there are loads of useful, interesting pages around the site, including people’s blog’s about their experiences (such as mine) one of  which you can read at this link. It may also be worth giving them a call if you have an specific questions or need help with anything. Their helpline number is – 0300 123 3393

Emergence Plus

A UK based user-led personality disorder charity, with a wealth of useful resources and services.

Personality Disorder UK

A more ‘professional’ and training based site for developing services and training in personality disorders…

Borderline Personality Today

I found the breakdown and explanation of the DSM IV criteria really helpful on this site.

Those are my favourite websites personally but these are also other good resources –

www.rethink.org

www.bpdworld.org

www.bpdresources.net

bpdfamily.com

www.mentalising.com

www.oneinfourmag.org

www.psychologytoday.com

Blogs

In addition to my own blogs about BPD I have found a number of other blogs about  living with BPD which have been insightful and sharing with others is a great way of getting to understand your own condition better and realising you are not alone (although it still feels that way much of the time in the ‘real world’). There are also a few Bipolar blogs in this collection as the overlap between experiences can be very similar at times. Some bloggers require you to ask permission to follow their blogs as they are very private/personal and you may need a password to be able to access posts. Additionally some blogs will contain posts that may be triggering as they detail self-harm or disturbing episodes.

Life in the Realms of BPD – the personal blog of a man with BPD

The Quiet Borderline – the personal blog of hospitalised woman with BPD

A Borderline Personality – the personal blog of a woman with BPD

Through my eyes: Adventures in Borderline land – a personal blog of a woman with BPD – posts in this blog may be triggering for some people

Lotus Dreams – the personal blog of a woman with BPD and Bipolar Disorder

Sevae Unplugged –  the personal blog of a woman with BPD

Pink0Banana – the personal blog of a woman with BPD

Katie in Wonderland – the personal blog of a woman with many diagnoses

Borderline Petrolhead – the personal blog of a woman with BPD

Same Little Girl – the personal blog of a woman with BPD

Purple Persuasion – the personal blog of a woman with Bipolar Disorder

Mental Fool – the personal blog of a woman with mental health problems

Running from corruption – the personal blog of a younger female with BPD

My Crazy Bipolar Life – the personal blog of a woman with Bipolar Disorder

Chaos and Control – the personal blog of a woman with various mental health diagnoses

Life of a Maybe Borderline – the personal blog of a woman with BPD

Journey to the Ordinary – another personal BPD blog

This week in Mentalists –  a weekly digest of mental health blogs

My Dialectical Life – Support blog for DBT

I hate you don’t leave me – Blog from the author of the book with the same name…

Psychotherapy Brown Bag – Blog about DBT (BPD specific therapy treatment)

Forums

A lot of the above websites have forums attached to them so pop back to those and have a look if you are searching for peer support. When it comes to forums you need to be careful, many are user-led, some are properly moderated, others only moderated by the individual who set it up. Some people have had bad experiences in forums, some people can get quite nasty with each other, and I have witnessed lots of bitching about people in some forums myself. I have not personally had any problems in forums but forewarned is forearmed – it won’t come as a shock if you experience any problems if you are prepared for the possibility that not everyone is there to be helpful/supportive (internet Trolls joining just to be twats are also a potential problem) – even though being prepared won’t stop it being upsetting/hurtful if it happens. I try to be careful which groups I link to and I have found the following forums on Facebook helpful… you may need permission to join a forum…

My Dialectal Life – a friendly forum based on Dialectal Behaviour Therapy (This FB page is secret but you can join by contacting Amanda at amanda@hopeforbpd.com)

BPD Meeting Place – a friendly forum for and by BPD sufferers

Understanding Borderline Personality Disorder – a friendly forum for and by BPD sufferers

You may also wish to follow me on twitter where I am in the process of compiling a list of Mental Health tweeters who you can follow 🙂

Offline 

Of course there are also numerous sources of offline information about BPD as well, here are a few that I have found useful or am in the process of reading/watching… I haven’t read all of these, and I’m sure I will buy more when I have. As I review them I will write posts about them saying how helpful (or not) I have found them 🙂

Books

Get me Out of Here – Rachel Reiland – The very first book I got following my diagnosis, I wanted to read about ‘personal’ experience before I got to the ‘technical/professional’ versions of what it is like to have BPD…

Stop Walking on Eggshells – actually meant more for the family/friends of a BP but it was the next one I picked up…

The Borderline Personality Disorder Survival Guide – currently reading, very good as a first book about BPD!

Sometimes I act crazy – A tale of living with BPD with practical advice

BPD demystified – a guide to understanding and living with BPD

BPD for Dummies – like it says on the tin, lol

Overcoming Borderline Personality Disorder – A family guide for healing and change

Women and BPD – a collection of stories and symptoms

Diary Drawings: Mental Illness and Me – I was asked to review this book for Mind you can read my review here

Mindfulness – The meditation and positive thinking skills element of DBT

DBT Skills Workbook – A workbook for developing DBT skills, intended to be used alongside DBT treatment

Managing intense emotions and overcoming self-destructive habits – A self-help manual

Skills Training manual for treating BPD – THE guide written by Marsha Linehan (BPD sufferer and creator of DBT)

Voices Beyond the Border – a collection of short pieces by people with BPD

Films 

Okay now to be honest I’m not sure how many ‘good’ films there are out there about BPD, I suspect most will actually be quite negative portrayals of the condition and therefore unhelpful or even damaging for us to see (I saw a film recently not ‘about’ BPD as such but where BPD was ‘hinted’ at as a possible explanation for the horrific behaviour portrayed, and it scared the crap out of me – the scariest film I’d seen in a long time).

The only film (and it has a book of the same name) that I know of that (although out of date now) gives a view based on real experience of BPD is this one:

Girl Interrupted – It is a good film and doesn’t really portray BPD too badly, but it is very out dated, based on experiences from before I was even born… still, worth a watch I guess…

Well I think that’s about all I have for starters… If you know of any other useful resources please add them in the comments below.

If you would like to ask about my experiences of BPD or share your own, please feel free to drop me an email – crystalbear96@hotmail.com 🙂

Thank you for reading!  If you have enjoyed reading this post please share it with others who may be interested and I always enjoy receiving feedback and comments 🙂

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