Stop Walking on Eggshells: Taking Your Life Back When Someone You Care About Has Borderline Personality Disorder » (2)

Paul T. Mason, MS, is vice president of clinical services at Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare in Racine, WI. Under his leadership, the mental health and addiction care service line has expanded the number of inpatient services and outpatient programs it provides for patients, family members, and loved ones affected by borderline personality disorder (BPD). His research on BPD has been published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology and his written work has appeared in the news and print media.

Randi Kreger has brought the concerns of family members who have a loved one with BPD to an international forefront through her website, www.bpdcentral.com, and the Welcome to Oz online support community. Through Eggshells Press, she offers family members a wide variety of more specialized booklets and other materials. She was also instrumental in the formation of the Personality Disorders Awareness Network (PDAN), a not-for-profit organization. Kreger is author of The Stop Walking on Eggshells Workbook and The Essential Family Member Guide to Borderline Personality Disorder. She speaks and gives workshops about BPD internationally.

This revised and updated edition of the best-selling Stop Walking on Eggshells helps the friends and family members of people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) understand the condition, help their loved ones find effective treatment, and stop feeling as though they are walking on eggshells to avoid confrontations with BPD sufferers.

Acknowledgments ix

Prologue xiii

Introduction: Intimate Strangers: How This Book Came to Be 1

Part 1 Understanding BPD Behavior

Chapter 1 Walking on Eggshells: Does Someone You Care About Have BPD? 9

Chapter 2 The Inner World of the Borderline: Defining BPD 21

Chapter 3 Making Sense of Chaos: Understanding BPD Behavior 49

Chapter 4 Living in a Pressure Cooker: How BPD Behavior Affects Non-BPs 67

Part 2 Tacking Back Control of Your Life

Chapter 5 Making Changes within Yourself 83

Chapter 6 Understanding Your Situation: Setting Boundaries and Honing Skills 107

Chapter 7 Asserting Your Needs with Confidence and Clarity 135

Chapter 8 Creating a Safety Plan 159

Chapter 9 Protecting Children from BPD Behavior 177

Part 3 Resolving Special Issues

Chapter 10 Waiting for the Next Shoe to Drop: Your Borderline Child 199

Chapter 11 Lies, Rumors, and Accusations: Distortion Campaigns 213

Chapter 12 What Now? Making Decisions about Your Relationship 225

Appendix A Causes and Treatment of BPD 237

Appendix B Practicing Mindfulness 243

Appendix C Reading List and Resources 257

References 257