-
I-AM-MAD communication skill
Last week I wrote an email to someone explaining the value of validation and the stance one “should” adopt when using validation. Emotional validation is valuable when someone is experiencing an “emotionally dysregulated moment” (which in the ATSTP group we call “EDM”). These moments are common when someone has BPD or ERD. Anyway, I posted an anonymous version of my message to the group and one of my group members (thanks Tides!) edited it into what she called the “I-AM-MAD” communication tool. I will post the content of the tool below and upload the PDF…. Oh, quickly… The formatting came out a little wonky. And “IAAHF” means “it’s all about…
-
Congress Adds Mental Health Parity Act to Bailout
From Bloomberg… Mental Health Coverage Expanded by Rescue Package (Update2) By Aliza Marcus Oct. 3 (Bloomberg) — Health insurers that provide mental- health benefits will be barred from providing less coverage than they do for other medical services under the $700 billion financial-markets rescue package approved by Congress. The plan was backed by a 263-171 vote in the House of Representatives today and signed by President George W. Bush. The package incorporates a measure requiring so-called mental health parity for health plans enrolling more than 50 employees. “Aren’t we all pleased across America that this legislation includes the mental health parity act?” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, said…
-
Mental Health Parity
This is an editorial from the NY Times… October 1, 2008 Editorial Oh So Close to Mental Health Parity Congress is within a whisker of passing a sound and fair-minded bill to require that group health insurance coverage for mental illness and substance abuse be provided on the same terms as coverage for physical illnesses. It would be a shame if the legislation, which caps more than a decade of struggle to achieve mental health parity in insurance coverage, were allowed to die while Congressional energies are focused on the all-consuming economic crisis. The bill would not require employers or health plans to cover mental illness or drug or alcohol…
-
Some resources on the web
I have discovered some resources on the web that may help those with BPD (and those nons who are in a relationship with someone with BPD). These resources are: Mass General Hospital Mood Charting (thanks to Tides…) DBT Skills Help: Emotional Regulation Skills… from dbtselfhelp.com … from Borderline Personality From the Inside Out Mindfulness Skills… from dbtselfhelp.com Distress Tolerance Skills… from dbtselfhelp.com Interpersonal Effectiveness Skills… from dbtselfhelp.com DBT Family Skills Training… from middle-path.org You can gain access to more DBT resources, to other pertinent files, and to advice from me and other group members by joining the ATSTP (Anything to Stop the Pain) Google Email List. No related posts.
-
When Tools Become Triggers
Why boundaries and detaching can make things worse…. I decided to write this post because I have seen many non-BPs frustrated over the fact that when they try to use the tools in certain books with their BP, the tools seem to cause more rage and emotional dysregulation. The two “tools” that I have found that cause the most problems are boundaries and detachment. I’ve already written a LOT about boundaries and where my view of boundaries diverges with some of the other “Non-BP authors.” Today, I’d like to turn to detachment. “Stop Walking on Eggshells” recommends on page 98, that a Non-BP “detach with love” from a BP and…
-
A New Name for Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)?
There has been numerous articles and discussion in the therapeutic community about renaming BPD. Here is the text of an interview with Dr. Leland Heller about a new name and about his feelings about the current Borderline Personality Disorder Name (the emphasis in this article is mine): A POSSIBLE NEW NAME FOR BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER Many people would like to change the terminology of the “borderline personality disorder” to a new term that more accurately describes the illness. The term “BPD” in and of itself is as if the whole person (and the personality) is flawed, rather than looking at the BPD as a medical problem it actually is. The…