I read something written by a supporter of a loved one with borderline personality disorder and I wanted to share it with you. She writes:Living with a BP is like living in a pressure cooker with thin walls and a faulty safety valve. Living with a BP is like living in a perpetual oxymoron. It’s a seemingly endless host of contradictions. I feel like I’ve been through the spin cycle on a washing machine. The world is whirling around and I have no idea which way is up, down, or sideways. It can sort of feel that way sometimes, can’t it? Like you’ve gone through (are going through) the spin cycle on a washing machine and, like she said, the world swirling around and you have no idea which way is up,down, or sideways. That’s how it feels to live with a loved one with borderline personality disorder. Many supporters have shared that kind of feeling with me, so don’t feel like you’re alone. In my main course and resource below, I discuss the confusing thoughts and feelings that supporters go through:
SUPPORTING A LOVED ONE WITH BORDERLINE?
www.borderlinecentral.com/report
NEED HELP EXPLAINING BORDERLINE PERSONALITY? www.borderlinecentral.com/explainingborderline
So I can understand the confusing world that you live in, and how hard it is. Someone with borderline personality disorder seems to change constantly. They cycle constantly, like the cycle in your washing machine, going round and round…One day they love you, the next day they hate you, and you never know what you’ve done to deserve this kind of treatment. One day they want you close to them, maybe they’re even clingy and dependent, while the next day they push you away and seem very independent – again, the analogy of the washing machine, spinning around and cycling. One day they seem to know exactly who they are, while the next day they seem to be going through an identity crisis. One time you’re right, then the next time you’re wrong about the very same thing! When you fight, you can never win the fight, even if you’re right! And you always feel like you’re walking around on eggshells around them, don’t you? These are all examples of symptoms of a loved one with borderline personality disorder. I know, that doesn’t make it any easier to be a supporter of a loved one with borderline personality disorder. But you have to stay constant. You can’t let your loved one’s disorder rule your life. You can’t let it change YOUR personality. Remember, YOU are not the one with the disorder. You know who YOU are. YOU don’t have an identity crisis. YOU are not like the washing machine. YOU don’t love them one day and hate them the next. You are sure that you love them, or at least care about them, or you wouldn’t have stuck around this long. Still, it isn’t easy.Some days you won’t know which way is up, down,or sideways. But as your loved one goes through treatment and follows their treatment plan, going to therapy and working out some of their issues, they should start to show some improvement, and their behavior should change. Then, hopefully, they won’t be going through the washing machine cycling any more. And they will be easier to live with.

Your Friend,
Dave