The Week in Review: August 13-20

by Beth McHugh | More from this Blogger

20 Aug 2008 03:40 PM

We have recently spent a lot of time looking at Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). We looked at the condition from the viewpoint of the sufferer in Borderline Personality Disorder: Kerri's Story. Here we were able to put the typical clinical symptoms of BPD into a more practical scenario where we looked at the way in which Kerri lived her life. In a very real sense we were able to see the chaotic thinking and behavior that leads to the typical unpredictable lifestyle of the BPD sufferer, including the emotional rollercoaster of anxiety, mania and depression.

However, in Borderline Personality Disorder: Hope for Kerri we looked at how the introduction of intensive therapy and coming to grips with Kerri's unstable childhood and adolescence allowed Kerri to have a greater insight into her erratic mood swings. Learning the origin of the self beliefs and accepting how these beliefs were affecting her present and future, Kerri was able to address many of the issues that were driving the emotional roller coaster on which she rode.

In Living with a Parent with Borderline Personality Disorder we looked at this disorder from the viewpoint of a family member who had a mother with this condition. In looking at the story of Anna, the daughter of a mother with BPD, we had an insight into the difficulties that children and teenagers of parents suffering BPD experience on a daily basis. We also looked at how the introduction of therapy into Anna's life helped Anna to understand more about her mother, to set healthy boundaries with her mother, and most importantly defuse the belief that she was unloved and unlovable.

In When Outing Your Father for Child Rape Breaks Up Your Family we looked at the ramifications of the all-too-common situation that occurs when one family member decides to speak up about issues of sexual abuse within a family. Karen, who had been raped by her father since she was six years old, and was also aware that her sisters had been assaulted also, decided to report the abuse to authorities. She was both horrified and re-traumatized upon learning that her sisters and mother had turned against her, supporting her father instead. Unfortunately this type of behavior is quite common and victims of sexual assault need to prepare themselves for the fact that this may happen to them if they decide to go public. Again, therapy is helpful in dealing with this type of scenario.

Contact Beth McHugh for further assistance regarding this issue.

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Related articles:

Living with a Parent with Borderline Personality Disorder (1)

Living with a Parent with Borderline Personality Disorder (2)

Borderline Personality Disorder: Kerri's Story

Borderline Personality Disorder: Hope for Kerri

What is Borderline Personality Disorder?

Borderline Personality Disorder: Diagnostic Criteria

Borderline Personality Disorder: Causes and Treatment

When Outing Your Father for Child Rape Breaks Up Your Family

Learn more about Beth McHugh

Beth McHugh began her career as a geologist and worked both in industry and as a university researcher.

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