I am so excited to see people looking forward to reading my book, 'Talking About BPD A Stigma-Free Guide to Living a Calmer, Happier Life with Borderline Personality Disorder'. It's so great to hear so many of you pre-ordering too. Thank you, it feels really heartwarming.
I have to admit, I have worked really hard on this book. It has taken many hundreds of hours or writing, researching and editing. I poured my heart into it because I wanted to make something truly comforting, reassuring and, ultimately, helpful for people with BPD. I remember how alone and scared I felt when I was newly-diagnosed...and how I needed a book that made me feel seen, validated and understood.
I want people with BPD to be able to read something about their diagnosis and think 'ah, that makes sense now', rather than 'oh am I really a terrible attention-seeking monster with no hope for the future.' Some books I have read made me feel like the latter and it was so painful, not to mention detrimental to my mood and sense of self.
So what's actually inside the book? Well, the book combines my personal experience of borderline personality disorder (including the events that led up to my diagnosis, the challenge of being diagnosed and how I felt to finally get this diagnosis). I share my difficulties in detail and how I came to a greater understanding of myself, my emotions, my thoughts and feelings.
My book is intended as a gentle guide to BPD by a person with lived-experience (me!). It combines an in-depth look into one person's life with this condition (my life!) and then shares some coping techniques that can be helpful. It's neither medical manual, nor psychology handbook. Furthermore, it's certainly not any sort of 'quick fix wonder' book that claims to change your life in ten days.
The book has been peer-reviewed by a mental health nursing senior lecturer and colleagues, as well as fully edited by my publisher, Jessica Kingsley. I am happy to say that my book is quite different to the vast majority of books about BPD on the market. For one, it doesn't talk down people with BPD belittle them or write them off as monsters. Secondly, the language is fairly accessible because it's written for a general readership rather than doctors or psychologists.
So what will be covered in the chapters? Well, expect to find chapters on what BPD is, how it's diagnosed, treatments, dealing with stigma, coping with self-harm and feeling suicidal, relationships, coping techniques (largely DBT based) and more.
I really hope you enjoy it when it's out on 21st October 2021. It's available to pre-order from many bookshops now.
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