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
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
A WALK INTO THE UNDERBELLY OF DARKNESS
I have struggled greatly with the decision to allow myself to write this Blog and for it to be posted on our Searching for Grey page. Although my blogs and story may seem like much to some, they are nothing compared to what I am about to share regarding sexual abuse. I would suggest that,
Living Without Grey
“You will continue to suffer if you have an emotional reaction to everything that is said to you. True power is sitting back and observing things with logic. True power is restraint. If words control you that means everyone else can control you. Breathe and allow things to pass.” Warren Buffett The other day, my
Hoarding
Growing up, I was introduced head on into the world of hoarding by my mother. I did not realize what it meant and considered it normal to live amongst the massive accumulation of stuff that surrounded our house. The ironic thing is that I also learned you could be a “hidden hoarder” so that others
RUDOLPH THE RED NOSED REINDEER AND THE BOUTIQUE
If you're old enough, you will remember the Christmas show, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is a song by songwriter Johnny Marks based on the 1939 story published by the Montgomery Ward Company. Gene Autry's recording of the song hit No. 1 on the U.S. charts the week of Christmas 1949. It
PTSD AND COMPLEX PTSD
With the Anniversary of September 11th upon us, I thought it appropriate to write a Blog on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and its sister disorder Complex Post Traumatic Disorder (CPTSD). When you have suffered through a traumatic event in your life of any kind, you have the propensity to develop PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress