Chris Healy is a mental health staff nurse with more than a decade’s experience of working with mentally ill offenders. She is the author of Understanding Your Schizophrenia Illness: A Workbook (Wiley, 2007).

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• About the author viiPreface ixSeries Editor Preface xiAcknowledgements xiiiUNDERSTANDING YOUR ILLNESSBelow are common questions that you, your family and others may ask when discussing your condition: Borderline Personality Disorder. These questions will provide the format for the sessions and hopefully provide you with information that enhances your understanding, so that you can lead a more positive life.Session 1 1What does personality mean? 3What is a personality disorder? 8What have people said about Borderline Personality Disorder? 10What is it like to suffer from Borderline Personality Disorder? 11Session 2 15Can you inherit Borderline Personality Disorder? 17Is it something to do with the brain? 17Does the environment in which you grew up cause you to developBorderline Personality Disorder? 19What famous people suffer from Borderline Personality Disorder? 21Session 3 23What are the symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder? 25What famous people have self harmed? 35Session 4 41What are talking therapies? 43What are creative arts therapies? 49What are the roles of professionals who treat me? 52What difficulties might I anticipate regarding a working relationship with my therapist? 54Session 5 57How can medication help with the symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder? 59How can you work with your GP regarding your prescribed medication? 60What is the most commonly prescribed medication? 61Session 6 69Wheel of mood swings 73Wheel of psychosis 87Wheel of impulsive behaviours 96Wheel of emptiness and boredom 103Wheel of suicidal ideas 110Wheel of abandonment 117Wheel of relationships 127Wheel of self harming 139Wheel of anger 157Wheel of self identity 166Bibliography and Further Reading 177Index 183