Books

Listed here is a list of some publications about Borderline Personality Disorder. Some of these books are available for download. While the list below might be useful, it is not exhaustive. Unfortunately there are very few Australian Publications.

The Buddha and the Borderline: My Recovery from Borderline Personality Disorder through Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Buddhism and Online Dating. Kiera Van Gelder, 2010.
Kiera Van Gelder's first suicide attempt at the age of twelve marked the onset of her struggles with drug addiction, depression, post-traumatic stress, self-harm, and chaotic romantic relationships-all of which eventually led to doctors' belated diagnosis of borderline personality disorder twenty years later. Kiera's story sheds light on the private struggle to transform suffering into compassion for herself and others.

Get me Out of Here: My Recovery from Borderline Personality Disorder. Rachel Reiland 2004
This is a firsthand account of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)- of how one person lived with and overcame BPD. An accountant and mother of three, Reiland tells the poignant story of her life, which included all-too-familiar episodes of anorexia, promiscuity, impulsiveness, suicide attempts, institutionalization in a mental hospital, and often unrelenting, anger-intensive, violent, and unpredictable behaviour. 

The Borderline Personality Disorder Survival Guide: Everything You Need to Know About Living with BPD. Alex Chapman & Kim Gratz (2007)
The book is organized as a series of answers to questions common to people with BPD: What is BPD? How long does it last? What other problems co-occur with BPD? Overviews of what we currently know about BPD make up the first section of the book. Later chapters cover several common treatment approaches to BPD: dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT), mentalization-based therapy (MBT), and medical treatment using psychoactive drugs. In the last sections of the book, readers learn a range of day-to-day coping skills that can help moderate the symptoms of BPD.

Borderline Personality Disorder (The Facts) – Roy Krawitz and Wendy Jackson (2008)
This book provides people with BPD and their families and friends with an authoritative, user-friendly and easily-readable resource that is both informative about the condition and provides practical help in assisting improved outcomes. The book is balanced, integrated and respectful of patients, family and friends, and clinicians. In an area often associated with pessimism and negativity, this book provides patients and families with realistic hope.

Lost in the Mirror: An Inside Look at Borderline Personality Disorder. Richard A. Moskovitz (2001)
Lost in the Mirror helps readers understand some of the behaviours of BPD by examining the underlying causes of BPD and revealing the unimaginable pain and fear beneath its surface.

Borderline Personality Disorder: A Guide for the Newly Diagnosed. New Harbinger Publications
Personal Stories. Chapman, A. L., & Gratz, K. L. (2013). 

How I stayed alive when my brain was trying to kill me: one person’s guide to suicide prevention. S.R. Blauner, S.R. William Morrow Paperbacks. (2003). 

Girl in need of a tourniquet: memoir of a borderline personality. Johnson, M.L. Seal Press, California.(2010). 

Loud in the House of Myself: Memoir of a Strange Girl. Pershall, S. WW Norton & Company (2012). 

MAINLY FOR FAMILIES & CARERS

The Essential Family Guide to Borderline Personality Disorder New Tools and Techniques to Stop Walking on Eggshells Randi Kreger, 2008
This book is for family members of a person with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Ms Kreger discusses five tools to make home life more manageable for family members and more constructive for the person affected with BPD

Overcoming Borderline Personality Disorder: A Family Guide for healing and Change. V. Porr (2010)
Overcoming Borderline Personality Disorder teaches concerned family members effective coping behaviors and interpersonal skills, such as new ways of talking about emotions, building awareness of nonverbal communication, and validating difficult experiences thereby reducing family conflict and aggressive incidents in the home, while increasing hope and trust.

Valerie Porr is the founder of the TARA centre based in New York.

Borderline Personality Disorder in Adolescents: A complete guide to understanding and coping when your adolescent has BPD 2nd edition Blaise A. Aguirre (2014)
This second edition of Borderline Personality Disorder in Adolescents offers parents, caregivers, and adolescents themselves a complete understanding of this complex disorder. It is a comprehensive guide which thoroughly explains what BPD is and what a patient's treatment options are, including an overview of treatment options (e.g., medication and therapy); myths and misunderstandings; tips and strategies for parents; the prognosis for BPD; and practical techniques for effective communication with those who have BPD. It explains the differences in symptoms (or how those symptoms are expressed) in adults and teens with BPD. 

Understanding and Treating Borderline Personality Disorder: A Guide for Professionals and Families. Editors – J. Gunderson & P. Hoffman (2005)
A number of recognized experts discuss topics such as evidence for the success of various forms of psychotherapy, including Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), in reducing self-injury, drug dependence, and days in the hospital for some groups of people with BPD; resources for families to help them deal with the dysregulated emotions of their loved ones with BPD and to build effective support systems for themselves

Understanding the Borderline Mother: Helping Her Children Transcend the Intense, Unpredictable, and Volatile Relationship. Christine Ann Lawson (2002)
Dr. Christine Ann Lawson vividly describes children with a Borderline mother may in life even as adults.

She describes four character profiles which describe different symptom clusters and goes on to shows how to care for the waif without rescuing her, to attend to the hermit without feeding her fear, to love the queen without becoming her subject, and to live with the witch without becoming her victim. Dr. Lawson's recommendations for prevention include empathic understanding of the borderline mother and early intervention with her children to ground them in reality.

Surviving a Borderline Parent: How to Heal Your Childhood Wounds and Build Trust, Boundaries and Self-esteem. Kimberlee Roth & Freda B. Friedman (2004)
Surviving a Borderline Parent is the first step-by-step guidance to understanding and overcoming the lasting effects of being raised by a person suffering from this disorder. Discover specific coping strategies for dealing with issues common to children of borderline parents: low self-esteem, lack of trust, guilt, and hypersensitivity.

Loving Someone with Borderline Personality Disorder Shari Y. Manning (2011)
People with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) can be compassionate, caring, smart, and funny, but they are also prone to difficult emotional outbursts and self-destructive acts. Shari Manning helps overwhelmed loved ones understand why their family member acts the way they do and she teaches how to respond constructively. See her on YouTube.

The Siren’s Dance: My marriage to a Borderline: A case study. Anthony Walker (2003)
This memoir follows the relationship between the author (a psychiatrist) and his wife, Michelle, from its tumultuous beginning in 1985 to their ambivalent last good-bye three years later.

I am Not Sick I Don't Need Help! By Xavier Amador (2000)
This is a great book for someone who finds themselves dealing with someone in denial of an illness, like Borderline Personality Disorder. The principles can be used for many illnesses, not just mental illness, and it can make the difference between being a loving caregiver to a frustrated caretaker.

The High-Conflict Couple: A Dialectical Behavior Therapy Guide to Finding Peace, Intimacy, and Validation. Alan E, Fruzzetti (2006)
This is the first book to use dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) to help high-conflict couples regulate out-of-control emotions, tolerate distressing situations, and resolve problems—an approach proven to help even the most highly reactive couples build healthy relationships.

DBT Skills Workbook for Parents of Teens - A Proven Strategy for Understanding and Parenting Adolescents Who Suffer from Intense Emotions, Anger, and Anxiety. The Mentor Bucket (2023).  This workbook assists parents to apply DBT strategies to their parenting style including learning skills to set limits effectively, communicate better with your teen, and help them regulate their emotion.

The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook for Teens:
Simple Skills to Balance Emotions, Manage Stress, and Feel Better Now. By Wilson Ho and Debra M. Garcia (PhD). An essential and engaging dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) workbook designed to help teens manage stress and deal with emotions in healthy ways.

 Mainly for Health Professionals / Clinicians

NHMRC 2012 Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of Borderline Personality Disorder
This National, Australian guideline seeks to improve understanding and recognition of BPD in health services and the community and will assist health professionals to diagnose, treat and manage BPD in adolescents and adults. Guidelines may be downloaded or a free printed copy may be ordered from: http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/guidelines/publications/mh25

Wise Choices: Acceptance and Commitment therapy groups for people with borderline personality Disorder. J. Morton & L. Shaw 2012
'Wise Choices' is a group treatment manual for borderline personality disorder which is based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). The manual includes a CD with electronic copies of 70 participant handouts.

Mainly written for therapist it also provides useful information for people with BPD and those that love them.
(Available for purchase online from http://www.spectrumbpd.com.au/)

Borderline Personality Disorder - Towards Effective Treatment Beatson, Rao & Watson, 2010
This is a comprehensive text on borderline personality disorder for health professionals. It provides an overview of aetiology, treatment and service system issues.

(Available for purchase online from http://www.spectrumbpd.com.au)

For people experiencing BPD

Borderline Personality Disorder: A Guide for the Newly Diagnosed. Chapman, A. L., & Gratz, K. L. New Harbinger Publications (2013)

Understanding your Borderline Personality Disorder: A Workbook. By Chris Healy (2008). 

The Borderline Personality Disorder Workbook : An Integrative Program to Understand and Manage Your BPD. By Daniel J Fox. (2019).

Personal Stories

How I stayed alive when my brain was trying to kill me: one person’s guide to suicide prevention. S.R. Blauner, S.R.  William Morrow Paperbacks (2003).

Girl in need of a tourniquet: memoir of a borderline personality. Johnson, M.L.  Seal Press, California (2010).

Loud in the House of Myself: Memoir of a Strange Girl. Pershall, S. WW Norton & Company (2012). 

Australian BPD Foundation Ltd does not officially endorse these books or any of the recommendations within these publications, nor is it responsible for any effects or outcomes these books might have on readers.