Q. I have a 33 year old sister that has been diagnosed with BPD by a court counselor, and in the past had been diagnosed as having ASPD by another therapist. I do not know what her current therapist says. She is being forced to go to counseling by the courts, but really does not think she has a problem... everyone else does (courts, family, etc.) . 11 years of substance abuse (methamphetamine) goes along with the BPD. As far are the systems... she fits the systems of both diagnosis.
She has a two-year old daughter, of whom I have guardianship. She loves her daughter, but expects the child to be perfect. She thinks she is a perfect mother .. because I believe that is the one positive thing in her life. However, the instability of life harms her daughter. Her life is a roller coaster. I am very concerned about the child's emotional well being in the
My questions are:
*If she goes untreated, what harm will the BPD have on her child?
*What advice do you have for trying to help my sister, who is so
very far into denial and angry all them time?
*What advice do you have for family members treatment, when my
sister refuses to go to family counseling?
Thank you for your time.
A. Individuals who are out of control - with or without the BPD - can cause enormous harm to a small child. No one can predict the specifics of the harm.
One of the few things I've seen work for people like your sister - IF the BPD diagnosis is correct - is to have her see the front cover of my book, without you directly confronting her with it. It can be printed off this website.
The best thing your entire family can do is get all your diagnoses correctly made and treated, and get into counseling to understand what's going on, your own feelings, and to work as a family towards how to handle this problem.