
If you are in crisis, get help now!
To anyone suffering with MENTAL ILLNESS You are one badass mother because nothing is more terrifying than battling with your own mind every single day.
This website is meant for people with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), for their families and people that love them, and for anyone else that is interested in learning more about BPD. The website will also touch on other forms of mental illness, such as Panic Anxiety Disorder or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. The content on this website will be many forms, such as technical articles and research, blogs by me, blogs from others and visual images that refer to the above topics. I will also have “visitors” such as practitioners that work with people who have BPD and other people with BPD that may chime in from time to time.
If you have Borderline Disorder, I hope that this website will be a place where you can come and receive hope. It is so important that you are properly diagnosed and that you find a good psychiatrist and other mental health professionals that specialize specifically in the treatment of BPD. I would also highly recommend finding someone that is trained in Dialectical Behavioral Treatment a/k/a (DBT). If you need to be on medication, please do not feel ashamed or that it might not be a vital step in improving your symptoms. You may need to try more than one or two until you find a medication that “sits” well with your system.
It is not an easy path to struggle with the symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder. It is so worth it though, to gain more control over your life and for those who love and care about you, for them to learn more about how to help you. The tagline I chose for this website is "empathize, educate, advocate". In doing so, you will find a much more rewarding existence living with Borderline for you and your loved ones.
I am NOT a Doctor or a Clinician. I do not hold any degrees or specialties in dealing with BPD. I myself am a survivor (yes, I call myself a survivor as I did not commit suicide from this disorder!) and I have been through over 20 years of psychiatric therapy, talk therapy and DBT training in learning how to conquer my symptoms. It has been a long and at times a very rough journey but it has also been empowering to learn techniques and methods that help me get through my days almost symptom free.
What I want to share with you are two things: HOPE and KNOWLEDGE.
The rest we can experience along the journey from my book, “Searching For Grey”, my Facebook Page www.facebook.com/Searching-For-Grey, and this Website www.searchingforgrey.com.
Thank you for checking us out and I hope to hear from you on our Message Board.
YOU CAN DO IT!
With you on the journey,
Alice M. Pirola
FOUR TYPES OF BPD
If you have been following my Blogs at www.searchingforgrey.com, I have been doing a series on the different types of Borderline Personality Disorder. As I wrote in my first Blog in this series, “The Quiet Borderline”, I was intrigued to find out, through research, that not all of us with BPD are alike. There are
Are You a Quiet Borderline?
I’ve decided to start the New Year off with a series of Blogs that address the different types of Borderline Personality Disorder. Seeing, as this is the first in the series, I thought I’d begin with a type of BPD that is a polar opposite from what we have come to know as the stereotypical
Join the Journey
About two years ago, I made a decision that changed my life forever. Much as the Hockey Player, Theo Fleury, in the video below and many others I have since met, I chose to leave what I now call Mainstream life and taking off my mask. I had no idea what I would face in
For Auld Lang Syne My Friend
For auld lang syne, my friend we’ll take a cup of kindness yet. As we close out 2018, I look toward a new chapter in 2019, so let's do some reflecting together. We who share mental disorders, know that Holiday time can and always will be a huge trigger for most of us. The majority
THE STRUGGLE IS REAL
The other week my husband brought me home a warm, snuggly sweatshirt that had a saying on it, “The Struggle Is Real”. We both shared an awkward chuckle as I embraced him, thanking him for his realization and cognizance of the fact that, the struggle (any struggle) is real. I often wear it to Doctors
FALALALA LLAMA
For the first time ever, we changed things up and chose not to stay home for Thanksgiving. Instead, we took off for Nashville, TN and had one of the most rewarding family trips to date! Prior to embarking to spend 5 days in an Air B&B condo with my daughter and son-in-law, I made some
THE POSITIVE TRAITS OF BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER
We’ve all seen many writings about the horrible traits of Borderline Personality Disorder showing the disorder in a very negative light. You may have heard those of us with BPD described as highly manipulative, needy, demanding, flighty, volatile, dramatic, emotional, abusive - the list goes on. I vividly remember telling my Dialectical Behavioral Therapist (DBT)
TALKING TO OURSELVES
Having a sales career for over 20 years with Mary Kay Cosmetics, they taught me much about the aspect of positive vs. negative self-talk. I learned to use visualization of positive outcomes, in addition to positive affirmations in order to achieve more sales to increase my customer base. They gave us the best of the
Cascading Trigger Issues
Lamentations 3:33 MSG Bible; Philippians 1:6; Hebrews 13:20-21; James 1:3-4 NLT (God) takes no pleasure in making life hard, in throwing roadblocks in the way. God began doing a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again. I pray that the God
Minimization
Those of us who suffer with any mental disorder may find at times that their thoughts, symptoms, and even very existence, may be minimized by others. Even close family members may have a tendency to fall prey to this behavior. It stems from many things however, I believe mostly from dealing with the person with