Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a serious personality disorder marked by extreme, fluctuating emotions, black-and-white thinking, problems with interpersonal relationships, and in extreme cases, self-harm. If you have recently been diagnosed with BPD, you likely have many questions. What treatment options are available? How do you tell your friends and loved ones? And what are the common side-effects of medication?

A diagnosis of BPD can definitely change your life, but it can also be a catalyst for personal transformation and growth. In Borderline Personality Disorder: A Guide for the Newly Diagnosed, two renowned experts on BPD present an easy-to-read introduction to BPD for those who have recently been diagnosed. Readers will learn the most common complications of the illness, the most effective treatments available, and practical strategies for staying on the path to recovery.

This book is a part of New Harbinger Publication’s Guides for the Newly Diagnosed series. The series was created to help people who have recently been diagnosed with a mental health condition. Our goal is to offer user-friendly resources that provide answers to common questions readers may have after receiving a diagnosis, as well as evidence-based strategies to help them cope with and manage their condition, so that they can get back to living a more balanced life.

Visit www.newharbinger.com for more books in this series.

Alexander L. Chapman's profile page

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Alexander L. Chapman, PhD, RPsych, is a registered psychologist and an associate professor in the department of psychology at Simon Fraser University, as well as the president of the DBT Centre of Vancouver. Chapman directs the personality and emotion research laboratory, where he studies the role of emotion regulation in borderline personality disorder (BPD), self-harm, impulsivity, and other behavioral problems. His research is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Chapman received the Young Investigator Award of the National Education Alliance for BPD (2007), the Canadian Psychological Association’s (CPA) Scientist Practitioner Early Career Award, and a Career Investigator award from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research. He has coauthored five books, three of which received the 2012 Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Self-Help Book Seal of Merit Award.

Kim L. Gratz, PhD, is an associate professor in the department of psychiatry and human behavior at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, where she serves as director of personality disorders research and director of the dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) clinic. In 2005, Gratz received the Young Investigator Award of the National Education Alliance for BPD. Gratz has written numerous journal articles and book chapters on borderline personality disorder, deliberate self-harm, and emotion regulation (among other topics), and is coauthor of several books, including The Borderline Personality Disorder Survival Guide, Freedom from Self-Harm, and The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook for Anxiety. Gratz currently serves as principal investigator or co-investigator on several major grants from the National Institutes of Health.

“This is a great (and unique) book for anyone who has received a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (BPD), written by two experts who study and treat BPD. The features of BPD are described in very understandable terms, and there are clear suggestions for coping with these features and problems, as well as for understanding their impact. I highly recommend this book for those receiving the diagnosis, as well as for those with family members or friends with BPD.”
—Timothy J. Trull, PhD, curators' professor of psychological sciences at the University of Missouri