24 Dec Expert on borderline personality disorder reveals her own past
People with borderline personality disorder suffer greatly, often experiencing intense emotions that are so painful and so difficult to control that they may be suicidal or try to harm themselves by cutting or burning themselves. They have difficulty maintaining a clear sense of who they are, and it’s hard to maintain stable relationships. Their own lives can be like a living hell, and those who love them can also suffer due to their ups and downs.
Marsha Linehan is an esteemed psychologist who designed a form of therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, which teaches people to accept themselves and to better manage their intense emotions. In this article from the New York Times, she reveals that she herself suffered as a young woman with this illness, attempting suicide numerous times. In a video which accompanies the article, she describes the religious experience which started her healing, and ultimately led to the beginning of the therapy methods she pioneered.
Recently she has found that sharing her own story helps people to be hopeful that they, too, can feel better someday.
Read the article and see the video here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/23/health/23lives.html?pagewanted=3
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