Sometimes I Act Crazy: Living with Borderline Personality Disorder by Jerold J. Kreisman (PDF)

Description

A source of hope, expert advice, and guidance for people with borderline personality disorder and those who love them Do you experience frightening, often violent mood swings that make you fear for your sanity? Are you often depressed? Do you engage in self-destructive behaviors such as drug or alcohol abuse, anorexia, compulsive eating, self-cutting, and hair pulling? Do you feel empty inside, or as if you don’t know who you are? Do you dread being alone and fear abandonment? Do you have trouble finishing projects, keeping a job, or forming lasting relationships? If you or someone you love answered yes to the majority of these questions, there’s a good chance that you or that person suffers from borderline personality disorder, a commonly misunderstood and misdiagnosed psychological problem afflicting tens of millions of people. Princess Diana was one of the most well-known BPD sufferers. As a source of hope and practical advice for BPD sufferers and those who love them, this new book by Dr. Jerold J. Kreisman and Hal Straus, bestselling authors of I Hate You, Don’t Leave Me, offers proven techniques that help you: * Manage mood swings * Develop lasting relationships * Improve your self-esteem * Keep negative thoughts at bay * Control destructive impulses * Understand your treatment options * Find professional help

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: From the Inside Flap “Kreisman’s commentary is expert. . . . [He] incorporates advances in the understanding of BPD that have been made in the last fifteen years, as well as new case studies and anecdotes. . . . Narrative descriptions . . . are packed with behaviors that Kreisman then proceeds to take up and unfold, all the while . . . making suggestions for how to cope, verbally or otherwise, with a host of Borderline behaviors.” –Publishers Weekly Do you experience frightening mood swings? Are you oversensitive to rejection or prone to violent outbursts? Are you often depressed? Do you dread being alone and fear abandonment? Do you engage in self-destructive behaviors such as drug abuse or eating disorders? Do you feel empty inside? Do you have trouble keeping a job or forming lasting relationships?If you or someone you love can answer yes to many of these questions, there’s a good chance that you or that person suffers from Borderline Personality Disorder, a commonly misunderstood and misdiagnosed psychological problem afflicting millions of people.In this book, the bestselling authors of I Hate You, Don’t Leave Me offer BPD sufferers and their loved ones a new source of hope. After reading this book, you will understand the disorder and know what steps to take to help you make your life happier and more rewarding, whether you suffer from BPD yourself or love someone who does. Drawing on Dr. Jerold Kreisman’s long experience in treating BPD patients, Sometimes I Act Crazy offers proven, practical advice to help you:Manage mood swingsDevelop lasting relationshipsImprove your self-esteemKeep negative thoughts at bayControl destructive impulsesUnderstand your treatment optionsFind professional help From the Back Cover “Kreisman’s commentary is expert. . . . [He] incorporates advances in the understanding of BPD that have been made in the last fifteen years, as well as new case studies and anecdotes. . . . Narrative descriptions . . . are packed with behaviors that Kreisman then proceeds to take up and unfold, all the while . . . making suggestions for how to cope, verbally or otherwise, with a host of Borderline behaviors.” –Publishers Weekly Do you experience frightening mood swings? Are you oversensitive to rejection or prone to violent outbursts? Are you often depressed? Do you dread being alone and fear abandonment? Do you engage in self-destructive behaviors such as drug abuse or eating disorders? Do you feel empty inside? Do you have trouble keeping a job or forming lasting relationships?If you or someone you love can answer yes to many of these questions, there’s a good chance that you or that person suffers from Borderline Personality Disorder, a commonly misunderstood and misdiagnosed psychological problem afflicting millions of people.In this book, the bestselling authors of I Hate You, Don’t Leave Me offer BPD sufferers and their loved ones a new source of hope. After reading this book, you will understand the disorder and know what steps to take to help you make your life happier and more rewarding, whether you suffer from BPD yourself or love someone who does. Drawing on Dr. Jerold Kreisman’s long experience in treating BPD patients, Sometimes I Act Crazy offers proven, practical advice to help you:Manage mood swingsDevelop lasting relationshipsImprove your self-esteemKeep negative thoughts at bayControl destructive impulsesUnderstand your treatment optionsFind professional help About the Author JEROLD J. KREISMAN, M.D., is a psychiatrist and leading world expert on Borderline Personality Disorder. His 1989 bestseller, I Hate You, Don’t Leave Me, is considered a classic of both the popular and academic literature on BPD. HAL STRAUS has written five books and numerous articles for such magazines as Ladies’ Home Journal, Men’s Health, and Redbook. Read more

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐I absolutely love this book as someone with a bpd diagnoses this book helped me understand and learn about bpd. It helped me understand my bpd and understand my actions. It helps me not feel alone, it helps me feel understood. The amounts of passages I’ve highlighted relating to them is insane. I didn’t realize that most my behavior derived from my bpd diagnoses. It’s crazy to finally understand why I behave the way I do. This book is so well written. Before this book I was so confused and lost from bpd I didn’t understand my symptoms or actions but this book helped me understand them. Thank you to the author. This book has truly changed my life. It’s so comforting to read as someone with bpd to be seen and understood, to learn more about my diagnosis and it’s so comforting to read things I relate to and can finally understand why I do what I do.

⭐In reading about mental health issues, so many times one can read a book about the problem and ongoing research and still be left with a sense that nothing concrete can be done now. After reading several books on borderline personality disorder (BPD), what I liked in particular about this book is that it provides a list of “ACTION STEPS” at the end of each chapter. This has greatly helped in giving me some specific ideas that I can apply towards helping my adolescent who has several BPD traits. Many of the book’s suggestions have already influenced how I approach the situation on a day-to-day basis as well plan for the future in terms of choosing the best kind of school and other activities for my child. For example, the book recommends steps on managing impulsiveness. While I have been told my child is impulsive, this book gave me specific ideas on how this condition can be better managed by “keeping good company,” using healthy distractions to divert onself from destructive activities, and staying engaged in healthy activities. It also mentions spiritual exercises like contemplating forces outside oneself and 12 step groups to help combat the feeling of emptiness.It also provided me with a number of very helpful insights in terms of how BPD can co-exist with other illnesses such as bipolar disorder. The authors discuss how “…BPD can be veiled by other diagnoses. It can hide behind labels such as depression, bipolar disease, and impulse disorder.”Best of all, this book gave me hope that “borderlines can get better” as three therapists (all seemingly well-educated and informed) have cautioned me on how BPD can be a devastating diagnosis and how terrible it is. It appears that though this condition is still greatly stigmatized in the mental health professionals and by insurance providers. Maybe good books like this can help to raise awareness of this mental illness so that more individuals can get the help they need.It is my desire, that by successfully applying now what I am learning from this book and other sources, that I can avert a case of full-blown BPD in adulthood and instead pave the way for my child to become a happy productive adult.If I were to rate a book by how many times I underlined important ideas and passages, this book would be “off the charts” in terms of the number of stars! It has provided me with a great number of “aha,” now I understand, moments. And this is saying a lot as it has taken me YEARS and several diagnoses to try figure out why my child was behaving this way. Unfortunately there is no definitive “catscan” or blood test for mental illness and one often has to play Sherlock Holmes to put the pieces together. This book has not only helped me to figure out this puzzle, but given me some suggested coping techniques and best of all…hope for the future.Other books that have helped me include “Borderline Personality Disorder Demystified” by Robert Freidel and “The Stop Walking on Eggshells Workbook” by Randi Kreger and James Paul Shirley.

⭐The author consistently refers to people with BPD as “Borderlines” which is insulting and stigmatizing. Overall, the book was good though.

⭐Be aware this is geared towards people living with a borderline and how to cope with one, not for the borderline. As someone likely a borderline this book was extremely helpful to finally understand your not alone, or identify things you do that are part of the diagnosis. I almost skipped the chapter on abandonment, having never been physically abandoned by a parent or loved one. It ended up hitting the nail on the head, things I didn’t know why I did were explained finally. Or at least finally getting a name.I did not like the action items at the end of each chapter. They do not apply to the borderline but to people who have to deal with one. This would be great if I lived with family, we’re married, or had ever managed to be in a long term relationship. But I haven’t. It’s just me and I’m trying to teach myself how to deal with the general population. The action items would require the other person to know the borderlines diagnosis or mental history. Obviously I’m not going to go around work asking people to learn how to better deal with my aggressive outbursts because it’s my diagnosis… so these absolutely weren’t helpful in any chapter.Along those lines, be careful who you give this to if it’s a gift. As a sufferer I’ve been hospitalized twice, lost most of my friends, just dealing with this since as long as I can remember. I’m now in my thirties, unable to maintain friendships, romantic relationships, and often feel I’m hurting my family or on the verge of losing my job. I’m desperate for change. I can’t imagine 50 more years living like this. So while this book was geared towards people dealing with me, I was able to have good take aways. However, gave it to a friend who is early twenties and seemed to be struggling. I had a feeling she wasn’t ready for change but thought the book would help. She agreed with the diagnosis and was very grateful. I later found out she was using the action items sections as a reason her loved ones should “just deal” and basically cater to her. Which was not the intention.Overall this book helped me confirm my diagnosis and now need to find a therapist who specializes in it. I understand a little better why I do some of the terrible things I do, but didn’t help treat them. In many ways the information at the end for treatment was disheartening and I wish I hadn’t read some of it. I want to feel positive about my specific situation going into therapy, not feel clouded.I wouldn’t suggest this to sufferers anymore without desiring to tear out each chapter summary and the last 3 chapters of the book. I think they hurt more than help. It is useful for someone who may have a spouse or child or loved one that may be going through this.

⭐There’s so much to learn. Good Book.

⭐What a debasing book. Explicit acts of sex are NOT necessary in case studies, and have no place in a supposedly reputable informative book for sufferers of BPD. If you are going to use case studies then don’t romanticise and use sleaze for entertainment value. Stopped reading.I would not recommend this book to people with BPD.

⭐This was recommended to me by a professional to see if it would help understand a disorder a family member has. I found the book difficult to really get to grips with, due to it phasing in and out of stories that were disjointed. It also gave a very black side to this disorder which not every suffer seems to have. If you read it, I suggest you find other books and articles to balance the scales for more concise understanding of BPD. What I wanted was information on treatments and a more practical understanding, I thought the book too jigsaw like.

⭐This book is an essential read for all those with Borderline personality disorder. It goes from diagnosis to giving you scenarios and then suggestions of how you might be able to deal with the problem.I’ve gained a lot from reading this book.

⭐NONs may find the practical advice handy, this is a good takeaway for NONs. Overall the book is morels evil to NONs than borderlines.

⭐Good

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