#4 BP Series: Useful Resources

Just a little note to say that these are things I have personally found useful; they might not be right for you or they might work a charm. Also, please don't use any of these useful tips as a replacement to professional support; you need all the help you can get! I hope they work!!!
  • The movie A Beautiful Mind helped me to defy my visual hallucinations
  • If you feel like you have many different aspects to yourself then try Schema Therapy to understand this better.
  • Make yourself some mood playlists on your iPod; I have a one for when I'm sad, happy and angry. If you play the one relevant to your emotion at the time then it helps you feel validated and usually before the playlist is over for 'sad' and 'angry' I find that both emotions have gone.
  • If you self-harm I found that work sheets from Harmless were very useful for understanding my self-harm and alternative ways to deal with the emotions that are causing me to self-harm
  • If you have trouble with self-esteem, try learning about Thinking Distortions such as 'all-or-nothing' and 'magnification.'
  • The book I Hate You Don't Leave Me was recommended to me by my CPN and it helped me to see I am not alone in suffering from BPD.
  • To improve levels of stress try this exercise: write what the issue is that you are stressed by and then list around it all of the aspects of it that you can't control, after that list all of the things you can control. It might help you to accept what you cannot change and take control of the things you can.
  • The best relaxation technique I've learnt is the progressive muscle relaxation exercise. Start by getting yourself comfortable with your shoes off, first focus on the right foot, tense the muscles in it to a count of 10 and then relax. Repeat this with your left foot and then move slowly up your body, tensing the muscles and relaxing.
  • If you are unable to find local DBT services, try the workbook most commonly used in the therapy sessions.
  • To understand a destructive cycle you might be in, try to determine which emotions make you react in this way, what is achieved by you reacting like this and then try to recall a time in your past when you have felt similar emotions. You might want to explore this with a professional e.g. a counsellor or psychologist.

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