Living with Borderline Personality Disorder - It affects the whole family When exasperated by a difficult family member, it is too easy to reach for the label personality disorder as both explanation & insult. Yet what do we know of the experiences of those who live with others who attract this diagnosis? This was the focus of a study which explored the question both in terms of the relationship with the significant other and encounters with the psychiatric system, using questionnaires & group interviews. The study revealed two key categories for family members: a life tiptoeing around the relative, a sense of powerlessness, guilt & lifelong grief, while the relationship with the helper system produced feelings of being left out & abandoned & loss of trust. These findings point to the crucial role of family members & the need to attend to them as well as the identified patient. Ekdahl,S. Idvall,E., Samuelsson,M. & Perseius,K. (2011) A Life Tiptoeing: Being a Significant Other to Persons With Borderline Personality Disorder Archives of Psychiatric Nursing Vol.25(6), pp.e69-e76
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 05:12:02 +0000