Dr. Linehan talks about her own struggles.

Dr. Linehan has been an inspiration to many, including me, in trying to figure out how to deal with borderline personality disorder. I count myself among the fortunate few who have had an opportunity to be trained by Dr. Linehan and her "children" during my own training to be a DBT therapist. Does this revelation that she, herself, has struggled with borderline personality disorder change the way I think of her? Yes, but only in the most positive ways: I knew that she talked the talk, but now I know that she walks the walk. When I teach skills to my clients, I often use personal examples as illustrative. I don't have any illusions that my own personal struggles match in intensity their own, but I do think it's helpful to share how the skills I'm teaching have helped me. The stigma associated with chronic mental illness is real and difficult to deal with. Even more for those who already struggle with emotion regulation.

The NYT reports:

“That did it,” said Dr. Linehan, 68, who told her story in public for the first time last week before an audience of friends, family and doctors at the Institute of Living, the Hartford clinic where she was first treated for extreme social withdrawal at age 17. “So many people have begged me to come forward, and I just thought — well, I have to do this. I owe it to them. I cannot die a coward.”

You are no coward, Marsha. Thank you for your courage and your story.

DBT again shown to be effective

The American Psychological Association highlights some key findings regarding the treatment of personality disorders. Help for personality disorders:

In a study comparing dialectical behavior therapy and traditional psychotherapy, women who underwent dialectical behavior therapy were more successful at reducing suicide attempts, self-mutilating and such self-damaging behaviors as gambling and substance abuse.

As we've known for a long time, DBT helps immensely when used to treat personality disorders. I'm always happy to see more research supporting its use. We, at Durham DBT, take pride in our training and our use of a comprehensive DBT model to help those with personality disorders, Borderline Personality Disorder, specifically, and people who are struggling with emotion generally. Treatment works.

Forbes.com: The Forgotten Patients

Forbes magazine has a lengthy article on suicidality and its treatment. The magazine reports:

Wixom spent the next year in group and individual sessions learning practical skills to manage her emotions so that they didn't spiral out of control. They included distress tolerance techniques like plunging her head into ice water, devising ways to distract herself when bad thoughts arose and learning not to leap to the conclusion that one bad day implies a life of misery. She has not been hospitalized since. "DBT is the best thing in the world. It changed my life," says Wixom, who got married halfway through therapy and is raising two daughters, ages 10 months and 2 years.

The article discusses the difficulty in finding support for the treatment of suicidality but does highlight the importance of not ignoring the issue. Related to the purpose of our practice, however, is the prominence of DBT in the treatment of chronic suicidality. There is help, you just have to know where to find it.