Description

A Young Girls Journey Through Borderline Personality Disorder
By Michelle Karpus

ISBN: 9781849912495
Published: 2010
Pages: 83
Key Themes: borderline personality disorder, psychiatry, society, self harm

WARNING: CONTAINS EXPLICIT LANGUAGE

Description

When Julie becomes so mentally ill she can no longer cope in society, she is put in a psychiatric hospital with the support of her friends. Once inside the hospital, Julie faces some terrible challenges, her main issue is trusting those in authority. She had uncontrollable reactions, such as self harming and suicidal behaviours when something is out of control, but with the help of her friends and a doctor she gradually starts to get these under more control. But the world of a Borderline is never an easy ride, and Julie portrays the tribulations that this diagnosis may cause.

Julies journey portrays how difficult a patients role in the hospital is when the staff are met with a talented, yet troubled young individual. How can they cope with Julies issues without belittling her or making her feel worse.

This book will work to sympathise with those who have had similar experiences in hospital and were unable to vent out their problems. This book will also thrive is teaching mental health staff what is perhaps going through a patients mind. This book challenges staff to look at their approach and language in the way that they treat patients, particularly those with Borderline Personality Disorder.

About the Author

Michelle Karpus was born in Hertfordshire in 1983. She completed an English degree at Queen Mary, University of London in 2005. In 2007 she completed a Masters Degree in Professional Writing. However, despite the many years she spent studying, she was also battling with a life threatening condition, Borderline Personality Disorder. Borderline is a serious mental illness characterized by pervasive instability in moods, interpersonal relationships, self-image, and behaviour. This instability often disrupts family and work life, long-term planning, and the individuals sense of self-identity.

When Michelle was put into a psychiatric hospital for the first time, she was in a critical state. Her self-harming was out of control and her suicidal tendencies made life for her very dangerous. She struggles continually on a day to day basis. In the book On Knifes Edge Michelle portrays her struggle in third person through the eyes of Julie. Some references to people in the story are either fictional or exaggerated.

Michelles struggles did not end in hospital. Her intuitive intelligence made it very hard for the nurses to deal with her. Michelle was met by a complete lack of understanding and compassion. On Knifes Edge challenges the behaviour of professionals into changing both their behaviour and tactics when met with someone with the hardest mental illness to treat, a Borderline.