Book Review: Stronger Than BPD
Dec. 18th, 2016 03:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
osprey_archerI finished Debbie Corso's Stronger Than BPD: The Girl's Guide to Taking Control of Intense Emotions, Drama, and Chaos Using DBT, which I thought was very useful. I wanted to gain a greater understanding of how DBT works, and indeed, it gives a thorough, accessible, and entertainingly written introduction to that, so if you're looking for an introductory book about Dialectical Behavioral Therapy look no further.
(If I wanted to get a greater understanding of Borderline Personality Disorder, though, I would have been out of luck. This book assumes that you already have the symptom list at your fingertips.)
Corso does have one slightly annoying tic, which is that she constantly uses the word "skillful" to describe the use of the techniques that the book outlines. (For instance, if you're stuck in traffic behind a slow driver, you could either melt down and start honking and tailgating them... or you could skillfully distract yourself from the situation by, say, turning on the radio.) Not that I have anything against the word skillful, it's just on practically every page.
But the repetition of the word did make me notice the extent to which DBT and CBT both position certain mental illness - depression, anxiety, in this book borderline personality disorder - not so much as illnesses but as skill deficits. Why are you unhappy? Because you haven't learned how to happy yet. Here are some happiness skills you can practice, like musical scales but for joy.
(If I wanted to get a greater understanding of Borderline Personality Disorder, though, I would have been out of luck. This book assumes that you already have the symptom list at your fingertips.)
Corso does have one slightly annoying tic, which is that she constantly uses the word "skillful" to describe the use of the techniques that the book outlines. (For instance, if you're stuck in traffic behind a slow driver, you could either melt down and start honking and tailgating them... or you could skillfully distract yourself from the situation by, say, turning on the radio.) Not that I have anything against the word skillful, it's just on practically every page.
But the repetition of the word did make me notice the extent to which DBT and CBT both position certain mental illness - depression, anxiety, in this book borderline personality disorder - not so much as illnesses but as skill deficits. Why are you unhappy? Because you haven't learned how to happy yet. Here are some happiness skills you can practice, like musical scales but for joy.
