By Melissa Ford Thornton
To purchase this book from Chapters: Eclipses: Behind the Borderline Personality Disorder by Melissa F. Thornton
To purchase this book from amazon.com click on the picture.
This book is the story of the author's treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder. The main focus of this book is the therapy technique, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) which was pioneered by Dr. Marsha Linehan, a psychologist at the University of Washington in the United States. It is a "broad-based cognitive-behavioral treatment developed specifically for BPD." (page 8)
The introduction reflects the personal experience the author has with BPD. On page 3 Thornton says: "This book does not offer the answers of a manual. It does, however, offer things from the borderline point of view. Of particular interest may be the information on DBT. This behavioral approach to the borderline diagnosis is producing promising results."
The author chronicles here treatment journey and experience as an in-patient at Highland Hospital, in Asheville, North Carolina. She talks about long-term care, DBT, various treatment options - such as the benefits of indivdual therapy and group therapy, Electro-Convulsive Therapy (ECT), medications, crisis intervention -- and gives a very profound description of the "hell of getting well". There are very moving poems throughout the book. This book also includes testimonials of the author's fellow patients.
Thornton does an excellent job of presenting a non-technical and very personal, first-hand account of a DBT treatment experience
A well-written and well-organized book that gives the reader the point of view of a borderline. A worth-while read.
© A.J. Mahari August 14, 2000
as of August 14, 2000