Borderline Personality Disorder Family Books

Updated:  09/30/06

Borderline Personality Books Section (Many of these books are also written for the families and you will learn a great deal about this disorder so that you can understand your loved one better). 

Family Related Books

The choice of these books do not dictate what the traits of a person with BPD are or whether you should stay in the relationship or not. See the DSM IV. "BPD relationships" can be quite successful when two people are both working on recovery.

Reader:  "Hidden Victims, Hidden Healers is an excellent resource book for family and friends of people who are living with some form of mental or emotional disorder. Written in a no-nonsense, accessible style, and filled with true-life stories of others in this position, Hidden Victims, Hidden Healers offers the reader options without giving advice, lets the reader know that they are not alone in their difficulty, and suggests additional resources for both the reader and their loved one. Perhaps best of all is the permission which Ms. Johnson gives the reader to live their own life-being compassionate to a loved one does not mean sacrificing your own right to a happy and fulfilling life. As a fellow professional, as well as one who has herself been in this dilemma, I cannot recommend this book highly enough."

How to Cope With Mental Illness in Your Family: A Self-Care Guide for Siblings, Offspring, and Parents
by Diane T. Marsh, Rex M. Dickens, E. Fuller Torrey 

Reader:  "A very cogent work, sincerely motivated (so it seems) out of desire to assist those who are faced with reconciling their own behavior in light of the demands and constraints of having a sibling (or more..or other family) who are personally challenged with mental illness. Highly recommended if your in such a position or assisting someone who is.."

Helping Someone with Mental Illness: A Compassionate Guide for Family, Friends, and Caregivers by Rosalynn Carter, Susan Golant (Author)

Reader:  "An excellent resource for family members and friends who wish to help a person with mental illness. I especially appreciated the book's emphasis on biological *and* social risk factors for various forms of mental illness. 

The section on building resiliency in children at risk for mental illness is reason alone to purchase this book. It is a wise, compassionate, humane treatus on a very important topic."