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Baby You Can Drive My Car
Or what driving can teach us about living mindfully and effectively. The other day right after I got this tire size calculator after my last stop-on-request, my teen-age daughter asked me: “How do you drive a car?” It was an interesting question for me, because I have been driving so long that I don’t even think about it and was really unable to explain this complex, yet conditioned set of skills to her. Of course in a few years, she will have to learn and integrate those skills. Yesterday, in the ATSTP group, we were discussing DBT and mindfulness. One of the guidelines for mindfulness according to DBT is part…
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Resistance is Futile when dealing with BPD
One thing I have noticed about loved ones of people with Borderline Personality Disorder is the resistance (at first) to accepting a separate view about their loved ones. This resistance seems to stem from multiple sources: Their ingrained view of their loved ones as crazy or behaving badly The fear of the future, either for the child, themselves or that therapy will not work The idea that they have “tried everything” and nothing works, which leads to learned helplessness Cognitive distortions in the mind of the Non that things will “always be this way” or that “I know what will happen when…” The need to be right because what is…
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Amy Winehouse, addiction and BPD from the NY Times
Before her death, I’d written about Amy Winehouse and my analysis of why she was very high on the BPD-o-meter. Here is an article from the NY Times about addiction that mentions both Amy Winehouse and Borderline Personality Disorder (but not as her having it). Here are some interesting quotes: Clinicians have long been aware that patients with certain types of psychiatric illnesses — including mood, anxiety and personality disorders — are more likely to become addicts. According to the National Institute of Mental Health’s Epidemiologic Catchment Area Study, patients with mental health problems are nearly three times as likely to have an addictive disorder as those without. Conversely, 60…