"A TarcherPerigee book."

Preface -- Note to reader -- 1. The world of the borderline -- 2. Chaos and emptiness -- 3. Roots of the borderline syndrome -- 4. The borderline society -- 5. Communicating with the borderline -- 6. Coping with the borderline -- 7. Seeking therapy -- 8. Specific psychotherapeutic approaches -- 9. Medications: the science and the promise -- 10. Understanding and healing -- Appendix A: DSM-IV-TR classifications -- Appendix B: Evolution of the borderline syndrome

"A revised and updated third edition of the bestselling guide to understanding borderline personality disorder"--

Includes index

An invaluable resource for those diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and their families, friends, and coworkers, as well as professionals. For years, borderline personality disorder (BPD) was difficult to describe, diagnose, and treat. In the third edition of this bestselling guide, Dr. Jerold J. Kreisman and health writer Hal Straus offer updated and vital professional advice for patients and their families, including the latest research on the disorder, new treatments and therapies, many new case studies that illustrate how to communicate with borderline individuals in your life, the impact of societal factors, and much more. People with BPD experience such violent and frightening mood swings that often often fear for their sanity. They can be euphoric one moment, despairing and depressed the next. There are an estimated eighteen million sufferers of BPD living in American today - each displaying remarkably similar symptoms: -A shaky sense of identity -Sudden outbursts of anger -Oversensitivity to real or imagined rejection -Brief, turbulent love affairs and intense, unstable relationships -Feelings of emptiness -Eating disorders, drug and alcohol abuse, and other self-destructive tendencies -An irrational fear of abandonment and an inability to be alone -Suicidal or self-mutilating behaviour. This new edition will provide much-needed answers for those struggling with the disorder as well as the people in their lives