One of the most effective therapeutic approaches is Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) which teaches how to practice mindfulness, use a wise mind and more.  Be aware that her therapist may not have been specific, even to the patient, on naming which therapy is being used since pwBPD can get triggered with details and specifics.

Also, our collective wisdom has been accumulated over time and has many tools, skills and time-tested strategies over on our Tools & Skills Workshops board.

Thank you so much to those who replied--I have to say that the wisdom you all offered has helped me immensely and has given me a lot to think about. Right now I'm going low contact with her, and only communicating through the occasional text message. I prefer text because our communications are documented and in writing, so it minimizes any risk of her flying into a fantasy of something she believes I said that I didn't say. I have moved forward with sending her a save the date, and sent her a text message reiterating that I support whatever makes her comfortable and that I love her and hope she's okay.

For the wedding--I have hired a wedding coordinator and given her the download on the situation, and she has agreed to support in the event of a scene or altercation. I have a few trusted friends that know the situation that have also agreed to step in if needed. But ultimately, I believe the odds are pretty high that she will not attend. I'm working on coming to a place of acceptance about that possibility, and so far I'm doing okay with it.

As painful as it is, I'm really trying to learn to release control. I'm realizing I've spent a lot of my life making myself smaller in order to accommodate her insatiable need for attention and validation. As much as I want her to be happier with herself, her emotions are ultimately not my responsibility. I'm getting there. It'll take time, but I'm getting there.

  :hi:Well remember me??  
Well I’ve known about my husbands bpd for as long as we’ve been married .
Things were bad and over the years got better.
Now we are going on 29 years of marriage
And he is going in for surgery Nov sencond
But he went off his happy pill he took mainly for back pain
But it was also for anxiety . Never believed he had a problem.
He helped me rsise the kids snd I just worked those tools and skills
Here we are I’m 65 he’ll be 62
And he went manic. It has been a hell of a week to the point I tempory live with my sister. And divorce looks possible
I finally called his dr that took him off letting them know about his manic state. Turns out he never took him off. Ok???
He called me 45 times my voice mail box is full .
The dr plans to call today due to needing a phyc release before surgery. Talk about anger.
he has been on face book leaving a video on face book bashing people due to not having a problem . Or just about the world . They say when u get older bpd can get worse . So now im in a delima a divorce at 65? _____ I’m to old for this .

With my BPD mother there were threats too. That your family members get all riled up- please know that this is on them- and let this be between them and your mother. They are on their own path of learning about her and how to relate to her.

It feels as if you are "command central" in managing all these family dynamics. Please know this is not a role you need to hold on to. What I learned with my BPD mother is that, as long as she was legally competent- she was going to do what she wanted to do.

I understand the resentment and anger over the medicines. I felt that way too- decades of BPD mother using medicines. This is a true addiction. However, there is a lot more to addictions than just the substance itself. Underneath an addiction are the emotions that drive it, and with BPD there are emotions and no medicine to address them specifically but the ones your mother is drawn to are the ones that she feels works for her.

On the other side of addiction are family members who are genuinely concerned and are trying to help but this is a part of the dynamics too. I learned a lot about this in 12 step groups- ACA- Al Anon- are there to help family members and they may be of help to you if you wish to check them out.

At one point BPD mother's doctor sent her to rehab to get her off them. I thought this would be the answer we were all hoping for, that she would be better off them. What I saw was that, without them she was anxious and miserable. It's been said that a person with BPD is like someone walking around with no skin, and emotionally, she had no emotional skin. At that point my feelings about the medicines changed from being angry to realizing it was inhumane to expect her to manage without them.

If yours and my mother were in their 20's, 30's even 40's and 50's- the goal would be to have them off medicine and learn more coping skills. Realistically- by their elder years, they have relied on these medicines, and the coping skills for decades. The medicines won't change their BPD or their emotions but even if they make them a little more bearable, then it becomes a quality of life decision.

My BPD mother was not happy when she was on them but she was even more unhappy off them. It was easier to manage when she was in assisted living. Elderly people are more sensitive to Lorazepam and she was too- but was able to handle a very small dose as well as some other medicines for anxiety. With the nursing staff keeping the medicines it was easier to find what worked best for her but until then, when she was at home using them herself, it wasn't possible.

I had no access to her medical information until she was in assisted living and the nurses could speak to me. I had no way to know what she was doing. That is where you are at now. Even when I was able to speak to the nurses, BPD mother was still in charge and also she decided what they could say to me. It's understandable that you don't want her to fall but in her own home, she is still in charge.

My best advice to a threat is to call emergency. Let the professionals assess her. If they determine she can be sent home, then they have assessed her. If your aunt or brother gets concerned-they can call emergency. Your mother's doctors are managing her medicine the best they know to as well. It's a difficult situation and I know you care. I cared too, but there are limits to what is possible to intervene with. All you can do is the best attempt and it feels helpless, but your mother is in charge of her own self.

Your girlfriend sounds like she knows herself well and that the reactions that come with BPD can cause a lot of pain to those close to her. So her fear is likely not irrational. She probably is going to have volatile episodes and say or do hurtful things. Have you asked her what a volatile episode usually looks like and how best you can navigate it when it does happen? The nature of BPD is a push / pull dynamic. It's the fearful avoidant attachment pattern - I want you close but when you get close I need to push you away.

She does seem to know herself pretty well. She did share some of her more extreme episodes from years passed before she was in therapy. She also sent me a bunch of Instagram videos about how bad BPD can be. She said to help educate me but she may also be trying to push me to leaving with these extreme examples. I'm not entirely sure since we're still in a little bit of limbo. She has agreed to talk about her fears from a couple days ago when she is ready.

In the meantime I've been working on regulating myself since I was a bit triggered the first day or so with my own fear of abdonment and past heartbreak. But that's a big reason I am here and educating myself in the meantime. Both to assist in my own well being and learn how to speak and act better and more supportive in the relationship. I don't think it's worth throwing away a really good relationship over this. She's worth the effort and being loved the right way.

Hello and welcome to the family.  We have all experienced what you're going through now and it's fairly common with a BPD partner.  Many relationships fall apart over this exact problem- the BPD person fears they're going to let the partner down or make their life harder, so they focus on everything negative until they convince themselves that you're going to leave.  So what do they do?  They leave before you can hurt them by leaving.

It sounds counter-intuititive, but that's literally all of our stories here, the beginning of the end.  Things are great, then they're awkward for a few weeks, then they run.

Now, I'm now saying that your relationship is ending.  Instead, I'm pointing out how important this exact topic is in BPD relationships because it will become more intense over time, particularly when your partner is under a decent bit of stress.  It could be around the holidays, or the week a family member passed, or just a tough stretch at work or whatever.  How you deal with this will set the tone on how the relationship progresses.

To answer your specific question about overcoming this, it's about positive reinforcement, validating their feelings, and letting them know how much they mean to you.  So tell them how you feel often, especially when things are a little tense.  I love you and I'm not going anywhere.  It's okay, we can work through this together.

The other side of that, the validation part, you know what it feels like to be scared or rejected.  So empathize with that and let her know that you understand.  This helps her thought patterns "level out" and keeps things from getting worse.  Tell her that you want to talk about it, you want to be there and to help her.  And let her know that you feel like that sometimes as well, that you don't have it all together 100% of the time.

I hope that helps!

Hi again NTWMever,

Your dd did choose not to attend these events. This is both honest and true without going into detail. You did the right thing. Funerals and birthdays are events that can often stir up a lot of emotions so I think you handled it well. I think it also best for to get on with your life and to let go any future expectations where your dd is concerned. The chance of disappointment is too high and the setbacks are too deep to keep wishing, hoping and waiting.

And Thankyou for asking how Iam doing. 6 years ago I was an absoulte emotional mess.My goodness....And How ironic!....  "Im doing fine now" by the Detroit Spinners is playing on the radio! WOW

It has taken years to get where Iam today and Iam now through the worse.  I can actually find enjoyment in everyday day again now. What I miss most of course are my grandchildren. My dd has had another child since the estrangement  but I have kept my distance. I noticed that she was pregnant when she opened the door when I went to her home and that why I think she expected me to pick up the chase again but I will not be going down that road again. I wont let her hold having contact with my gc over my head again and as long as I know that my gc are all healthy and happy then Iam fine with that.

Wishing you all the best 

This is great that your girlfriend has been honest about her diagnosis and that she is attending therapy. I would also be interested to know what type of therapy she is getting because standard therapy / counselling is unlikely to help and can sometimes make things worse.

She is lucky to have someone so dedicated to supporting and learning about BPD and 'improving yourself to be the best partner for her'. I would encourage you to be aware of this though that you don't end up sacrificing yourself for the relationship and her difficulties. This is something I could see myself slipping into to prevent any more speed bumps. Although the speed bumps ended up being giant potholes!

Your girlfriend sounds like she knows herself well and that the reactions that come with BPD can cause a lot of pain to those close to her. So her fear is likely not irrational. She probably is going to have volatile episodes and say or do hurtful things. Have you asked her what a volatile episode usually looks like and how best you can navigate it when it does happen? The nature of BPD is a push / pull dynamic. It's the fearful avoidant attachment pattern - I want you close but when you get close I need to push you away.

My husband's fear wasn't expressed but I'm sure it was something he felt inside. I guess he dealt with it by marrying me in the hope that the legal connection would override any fear of hurting me and ultimately me leaving. If he'd have expressed that fear we would have had more to work with.

I really hope you can work through this together

I went through that as well recently.  On Father's Day, my BPD daughter wrote a long post about how her father is always there for her and such a wonderful human.  She was posting about my BPD ex-wife's new husband though, not me. 

At first, it did cut like a knife.  But as I processed it from her perspective, I'm not active in her life (mostly by choice and distance, I live far away).  Yet when I visited recently, she reached out and came to see me often.  That reminded me that what she thinks in the moment is based on her feelings in the moment- she didn't post about her step-dad to hurt me.  It's just how her brain works at times and her honest opinion right then.

I've had my BPD kid call me a dead-beat dad and all sorts of things.  But I know the truth and so does everyone else in my family.  That's just one of those things I have zero control over and I let it go.

I can admire her being up front about her issues and concerns, something that is often denied and hidden.  Might she be preparing you to accept future incidents as though they were out of her control?  Or, in other words, is she trying to tell you that such incidents should be viewed as "two steps forward but one step back"?  Something to ponder.

I've often noted that conflict with people with BPD traits (pwBPD) is often reported reduced due to the lessened contact - and distance apart - so the question is posed, How might the relationship fare when the distance apart is less?

Often observed here is that ongoing therapy is essential, applied meaningfully in life, perceptions and behavior.  Be reminded that even meaningful therapy is not a cure.  BPD exists on a spectrum and very likely therapy will be necessary for years to come, perhaps even life-long.

Does she have a therapist who is capable of addressing Borderline patterns and does she apply the insight and "mindfulness" in her life?  Saying one thing is somewhat easy, actually doing it over a lifespan is so much harder to accomplish.

Only you can decide whether the long term outcome - and whatever costs may come with it - is one for you to choose.