Product Description

A source of hope, expert advice, and guidance for people with borderline personality disorder and those who love them

Do you experience frightening, often violent mood swings that make you fear for your sanity? Are you often depressed? Do you engage in self–destructive behaviors such as drug or alcohol abuse, anorexia, compulsive eating, self–cutting, and hair pulling? Do you feel empty inside, or as if you don′t know who you are? Do you dread being alone and fear abandonment? Do you have trouble finishing projects, keeping a job, or forming lasting relationships?

If you or someone you love answered yes to the majority of these questions, there′s a good chance that you or that person suffers from borderline personality disorder, a commonly misunderstood and misdiagnosed psychological problem afflicting tens of millions of people. Princess Diana was one of the most well–known BPD sufferers.

As a source of hope and practical advice for BPD sufferers and those who love them, this new book by Dr. Jerold J. Kreisman and Hal Straus, bestselling authors of I Hate You, Don′t Leave Me, offers proven techniques that help you:
∗ Manage mood swings
∗ Develop lasting relationships
∗ Improve your self–esteem
∗ Keep negative thoughts at bay
∗ Control destructive impulses
∗ Understand your treatment options
∗ Find professional help

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #240604 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

From the Inside Flap
Life with borderline personality disorder is a life out of control. Pulled apart by warring emotions and self–destructive impulses, tormented by fears of abandonment, those with BPD rarely know real satisfaction or inner peace. BPD sufferers’ emotions can drive them to acts of antisocial violence and destruction or to self–mutilation, drug and alcohol abuse, eating disorders, compulsive gambling, or sexual compulsions.

Living with someone with BPD is not easy either. Those with BPD can be charming and sympathetic, yet their violent mood swings, propensity for veering suddenly and inexplicably from adoration to hatred, and destructive impulsivity can make life with them like running an endless emotional gauntlet.

If you or someone you care for has been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, this book will be a source of healing. If you suspect that your child, mate, or other loved one has BPD, it can help you to understand why that person acts the way he or she does and will show you what you can do to help make his or her life–and your life–happier and more rewarding.

Written by one of the most respected authorities on borderline personality disorder, Sometimes I Act Crazy is a source of wisdom and practical advice on living with the most common personality disorder. Dr. Jerold Kreisman refutes the misperception that BPD is untreatable, and he charts the enormous progress that has been made over the past decade by researchers in a variety of fields in understanding its causes and therapies. He also offers expert guidance on getting a proper diagnosis and understanding all the best treatment options currently available.

Each chapter of Sometimes I Act Crazy centers on a riveting case story that takes you inside the life of a BPD sufferer at a crucial life moment. Dr. Kreisman explores the complex play of forces at work behind the symptom or behavior under discussion. And he provides simple action steps BPD sufferers or their loved ones can take to help keep things from boiling over into a full–fledged crisis.

Wise, compassionate, and practical, Sometimes I Act Crazy offers new hope to people with borderline personality disorder and those closest to them.

From the Back Cover
A source of hope, expert advice, and guidance for people with borderline personality disorder and those who love them

Do you experience frightening, often violent mood swings that make you fear for your sanity? Are you often depressed? Do you engage in self–destructive behaviors such as drug or alcohol abuse, anorexia, compulsive eating, self–cutting, and hair pulling? Do you feel empty inside, or as if you don’t know who you are? Do you dread being alone and fear abandonment? Do you have trouble finishing projects, keeping a job, or forming lasting relationships?

If you or someone you love answered yes to the majority of these questions, there’s a good chance that you or that person suffers from borderline personality disorder, a commonly misunderstood and misdiagnosed psychological problem afflicting tens of millions of people. Princess Diana was one of the most well–known BPD sufferers.

As a source of hope and practical advice for BPD sufferers and those who love them, this new book by Dr. Jerold J. Kreisman and Hal Straus, bestselling authors of I Hate You, Don’t Leave Me, offers proven techniques that help you:

• Manage mood swings
• Develop lasting relationships
• Improve your self–esteem
• Keep negative thoughts at bay
• Control destructive impulses
• Understand your treatment options
• Find professional help

About the Author
JEROLD J. KREISMAN, M.D., is a psychiatrist and leading world expert on borderline personality disorder. His 1989 bestseller, I Hate You, Don’t Leave Me, is considered a classic of both the popular and academic literature on BPD.
HAL STRAUS has written five books and numerous articles for such magazines as Ladies’ Home Journal, Men’s Health, and Redbook.

Customer Reviews

Worth reading but disappointing
This eagerly awaited new book from the authors of the highly acclaimed 'I hate you, don't leave me' turns out to be somewhat of a disappointment. Each chapter is dedicated to one of the criterion of BPD and is introduced with a lenghty account of a character who at a particular time in their life story clearly manifested that criterion e.g.impulsiveness, fear of abandonment etc. Although this makes easy reading I felt that it illustrated the problems of BPD by using extreme examples and not giving enough substance for, or acknowledgement to, the many people who struggle with BPD daily and rarely, if ever hit the extremes described. Overall I felt the book had very little, if anything, to offer BPD sufferers or those close to them that hasn't already been covered in superior form by other books on the subject.

Dissapointed in 'Sometimes I act Crazy' as someone with BPD
The book is very well set out with a chapter for each symptom of BPD and I could relate to the problems in every chapter. But, each chapter is just one case story, and there is not much described of the ranges and details of BPD in general that might apply to various readers. I also felt even lonelier than before after I'd read it - For me personally I would have liked Dr. Kreisman to use at least one patient who had never had an intimate relationship before, like me, and explain that. But every character was practically a nympho. and they were all in work too.
There is also a help section at the end of each chapter - doctor's jargon mumbo-jumbo for professionals and help for carers, but hardly any advice for sufferers. Dissapointing.

Fantastic book fully explaining BPD symptoms
I was surprised by previous reviews. I actually think this is one of the better books on borderline personality disorder and I think I own almost all of them. I have BPD and am also a psychology/counselling student so my review is based on that. The book describes all the criteria for being diagnosed with BPD. It gives cases studies that I think are relevant to BPD sufferers and help understand the context of the DSM-IV criteria. Yes the case studies are extreme but I can relate to them and know others who can too, a very high percentage of BPD diagnosed suffers suffer in the same way as their BPD is extreme. Each chapter fully explains each of the 9 criteria as listed in the DSM-IV. For me it is recommended if you want to understand the condition. There isn't as much information on treatments as some of the other books but I felt less alone reading it and less of an outsider knowing other people felt the way I do. The book is aimed at people interested in BPD, family and friends and those professional diagnosed as having BPD. I genuinely think its very well written, easy to understand and aimed at the those suffering with the general BPD problems as opposed to those people who suffer very little with it or who are institutionalised.