Sometimes music can be too powerful. Play Billy Joel's 'An Innocent Man' from 1984 and it always makes me crash and burn because the lyrics related to my BPD g/f at the time.. her inability to trust anyone and how hard I tried to make her see I really was genuine. Have a listen, the lyrics really hit home, especially if you're with a BPD partner.

I have a section on my little media player with all the songs from '84 - '88 when I knew her, some will trigger the rare happy times and others will remind me of when she broke up with me yet again.  All those years ago yet I still play them and think of her, or at least I try to think of the happy times.

Sometimes I press 'skip' when Billy Joel comes on though

Hi Hopeful,

I agree with Notwendy's comment about a family dynamic where people fill different roles, to keep the peace or maintain the familiar status quo.

I have a slightly different take on the graduation.  It's possible that your BPD daughter was role playing, trying to look like the reasonable one, while making you out to be the villian.  She expected you to forget how she acted in the lead-up to the event.  Maybe she was putting on a little show in front of other family members, in an attempt to make you look and feel bad.  In the process she enlists some "allies" in the family--siblings, stepdad.  Even so, I would have done what you did--keep things cool, go with the flow, try not to look hurt by daughter's blocking/unblocking and organizing a separate graduation event that excluded parents.

By the way, the pwBPD in my life will appear to "pull herself together" for things she wants to do, and to others who don't know what she's been up to, she can appear to be "normal."  What's amazing to me is her ability to wield a temporary magic eraser, and wipe the slate clean, when hours earlier, she was a total mess and/or behaving badly.  An example would be spending days in the hospital after a violent, total meltdown and suicide attempt, and then the day after release, wanting to go on a trip, while pretending that everything has snapped back to normal.  Sometimes, other family members will proffer a revisionist history ("She didn't mean it, she was upset, she said she wouldn't do it again"), which might make them feel good as they minimize the dysfunction and their own anxiety, while they live in denial about the pwBPD's real issues.  Other times, family members might have their own form of PTSD, and be living in a FOG of fear, obligation and guilt, which clouds their judgment.  They too operate in survival mode, just trying to keep the peace.  Basically, they've learned to do whatever the pwBPD wants, because there will be hell to pay if they don't.  Yet that doesn't stop the pwBPD from being conniving, convincing others that what she wants was somebody else's idea (e.g. to have a sibling-only dinner to celebrate graduation).

I totally get where you're coming from, in feeling that BPD is straining your relationship with your spouse.  I have the same issue.  For me, the primary souce of strain is the general chaos (emotional, logistical, financial) that BPD causes.  But there's a secondary reason, which is that my spouse tends to take his stress out on me.  Mostly this looks like trying to control me, and I think it's because he feels so out of control when dealing with his adult BPD daughter.  There's some blaming from time to time as well--for example, he'll say his daughter doesn't feel welcome in our home because of me.  But there's a third reason for marital strain, which is that we often don't see eye-to-eye on how to handle BPD behaviors.  This is for different reasons, and I'll share some of my thoughts here:

--My husband pays a lot of attention to mood, whereas I tend to look for actions.  So if my BPD stepdaughter is in a nasty mood most of the time but gets up in the morning and is generally doing what she's supposed to be doing, such as attending college classes, then I'm OK with that.  But my husband would rather see her happy, even if she sleeps all day and uses marijuana.

--Obviously neither of us wants to see BPD daughter suffer, but I think that some "suffering," as in temporary setbacks and discomfort, are necessary for learning and adulting.  My husband is more of a "snowplow" parent and tries to remove challenges for his daughter.  I'm a believer in natural consequences, while he's a believer in minimizing stress for his daughter.  There's a balance there.  This is about understanding the line between supporting and enabling, and it's a tough line to draw.  I also think that the line needs to move sometimes.  Support vs. enablement at age 19 looks different at age 23 and at age 27.

--Much of the marital stress emerges when adult BPD daughter is living with us, which has happened on and off over the span of several years.  In the vast majority of that time, my adult BPD stepdaughter has not been studying, working or helping out one bit in the household.  I just think it's not acceptable to provide room and board for an adult who has zero resposibilities, less than what a normal kindergartener would have!  It's not fair to the other family members (including siblings) who are contributing, and it's not good for the pwBPD in my opinion, because it feeds into her feelings of worthlessness and alienation.  If she doesn't contribute anything at home, and she's not doing anything other than sleeping and consuming entertainment on screens, how can she possibly feel like part of the family?  How can she feel good about life if she's rotting in bed and being mean to the family?  After a few weeks of this life, my pwBPD would feel worthless and hopeless, and she'd lash out.  However my husband wouldn't enforce house rules.  He'd say, She's an adult, I can't force her to do anything.  What do you want me to do, assault her?  (Note the black-and-white, extreme thinking in my husband there.)  And I'd say, Why do you frame a relationship with daughter in terms of assault?  Of course you can have some house rules while she's living under our roof.  She should be working on herself full-time (through some combination of therapy, study and work), act respectfully and help us out around the house, just like we do, every day.  Then he'd say, She won't do that, and what do you want me to do, kick her out and let her live on the street?  (Black-and-white thinking again, tinged with fear and obligation.)

Anyway, the issues are complex and long-term.  The way I've gotten through this with BPD stepdaughter is knowing that she has taken therapy seriously.  Her life today looks much healthier than it did in her early 20s.  While she still struggles, especially with interpersonal relationships, she's not attempting suicide anymore, and she's not lashing out nearly as much as she used to.  As for my husband, I have dealt with many disagreements, blaming and controlling behavior because underneath it all is someone who truly loves his daughter.  He has gone above and beyond to try to help her.  It's just that, with BPD, conventional help doesn't seem to work.  He is a great dad though.  He tries, and he doesn't give up.  I guess I'm saying that I can agree to disagree over how to deal with BPD daughter because it's so complicated, but we're both coming from a place of love.  I just have more of a tough love approach, maybe because I'm not as deep into the FOG as my husband is.

I’ve posted here about my elderly mom diagnosed with BPD (diagnosed in 2008, no treatment outside of a couple appointments in 2008) before. She and her alcoholic BF are in an unhealthy relationship where he has taken it upon himself to be a flying monkey and to punish my husband and I for needing and taking space. We’ve been LC to completely estranged for the past couple of years.

Mom crashes out around holidays and other significant dates, one of which is coming up soon. They are not allowed here because of their increasingly aggressive and abusive behavior. They also physically abuse one another and I want nothing to do with the possibility they would try that approach with us.

Regarding not being allowed here, I have a FedEx account associated with my address and yesterday I receive an email that an item from the third party  “small town we will ship it however you’d like” store located a short distance away from my house. A 5lb package to arrive here today. She uses these small retailers to ship to people who’d rather not hear from her (people she’s estranged from) because of the way they ship it; she pays cash for shipping costs and the sender info is the name of the store rather than her own name. One time she shipped her former best friend she hadn’t seen in 30+ years a bunch of old items (junk from an old moving box) I’m sure her old friend couldn’t have cared less about. Did the same with one of her ex husbands she hasn’t seen since 2006. I once told my mom this is “ambush contact” and she should leave people from her past alone. Particularly those who have specifically told her to leave them alone.

I am angry and unsettled about this FedEx thing and not sure what to do with my feelings. I have another very problematic relative (also dx’d BPD) who I’ve managed to create great distance from over the last several years, it’s been helpful. I’m in my late 50’s and feel like I’ve been an adult since the third grade. I have no one reliable in my personal life other than my husband (who I’m thankful for) and the petty part of me would love to give my mom a piece of my mind. I know I shouldn’t be JADE’ing but in my mind it seems like it would be satisfying to tell her how weird and screwed up it is to use FedEx to send me something that first has to travel 150 miles before coming back to the same town it started in - she and I live in the same zip code. If confronted, she’d tragically waif and wax poetic about “just wanting to love” me and regardless of the outcome she and her BF, by the next day or week, will be swerving at us in traffic while giving us the finger.

As a kid I had no voice and now in my 50’s and by virtue of how to handle someone with a diagnosis of BPD, I still have no voice. Shouldn’t JADE, can’t have an adult conversation with someone who doesn’t function like an adult, can’t be the slightest bit harsh because she’ll split and there will be h*ll to pay for me and everyone else.

Therapy, which I’ve been to a lot of, doesn’t seem to get me past being angry. At least it hasn’t been linear progress. I hate the passive aggressive stuff like the FedEx thing (she’s sending whatever it is for herself and her frantic needs, has got nothing to do with me) and also can’t stand weepy, waify behavior. Continually taking up with abusive and disordered men who she expects we treat like family. Now I’ve fawned and tolerated her behavior for a long time and I think I burned myself out on wanting any relationship with her at all, not even low contact.

... and that might never happen (a partner with both fantasy and capacity). And i am not sure if i even want it to. I find myself more interesting alone, am more alive to life in some ways.

I love those ones they are great choices mine gives me the silent treatment whenever he feels like it but if I do... watch out . Im gonna use those for my play list I love that. I hope I get more from the group id love to see whay songs helped people heal or deal with that part of their life. Or if they are going through it now like me . Whats weird is I know ..my partner would love thos idea.

It really is true its like suddenly im in a battle field full of mines and gun fire and its as if I slipped and fell into a trench with no defense.

The mines are the worst part its that egg shell feeling that one wrong word can turn this into a full blow out when their is quiet on the weastern front .

I think most of us are into our music in one way or another. I've been a musician all my lifr so it's a;ways been particularly relevant to me but commercial music has always influenced my life.

I always associate a particular song with a particular time in my life. When I hear Bachman Turner Overdrive's 'You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet' I'm instantly transported back to my 70's self aged 17. with platform-soled shoes, multicoloured tank tops, drinking vodka & lime and discos.. and all the girls were gorgeous in that time

This explains why, though I love rock, punk and metal, I can also often play the cheesiest pop song if I was having a good time when I first heard it; the music connects to your brain and puts a bookmark there, be it good time or bad.

Of course, the reverse also applies and songs from bad times always take me back too but not in a nice way. I can be sarcastic with music - I remember my exBPD not talking to me (as usual) and I was sick of her so I put The Tremeloes 'Silence Is Golden' on the jukebox, followed by Cliff's 'We Don't Talk Any More' and Simon & Garfunkel's 'The Sound Of Silence'.  She didn't take it too well but then BPD's have no concept of sarcasm.

Be interesting to see how other people here relate music to their life.

I'm on the verge of accomplishing something long planned and worked towards which will mean a big move and other changes in my life. It's very exciting.

At the same time, I still have some hollow and ambivalent feelings regarding... well, I'm not quite sure what, because part of the mind________ of BPD is not knowing exactly what you were dealing with, or what was being experienced.

uBPDx and I used to talk about doing this thing as a 'dream' we would experience together. I'm not sure if it was something they actually wanted or if they were just mirroring me. It certainly was/is my dream, and now I am accomplishing it (though there is lots of difficult stuff ahead).

There was no viable future where this could have been done together, because it requires sustained effort and commitment in the face of fluctuating emotions, which uBPDx was not capable of.
 
It's a bit of a double edged sword. The qualities that uBPDx used to idealise are still very much with me, and the relationship has not changed the trajectory of my life at all, besides throwing me mildly off track with a couple things (soon corrected) - I'm a very determined person and though there's been quite a lot of hurt and harm to me, I've never been seriously pushed away from my values or goals. That's very lucky compared to others on this forum. Maybe if the relationship lasted longer it would be different. 

But, well, realising I'm my own person - that I'm responsible for myself, that it's the same as it ever was - is a bit sad after the fantasy. That the experience and the burden/ joy of being me, could be a shared one.

Anyway, sorry to be trite, but dreams do come true - you just have to work in the actual physical realm. What I learned from the relationship is if the dream is going to be shared, then this needs to be with someone who not also has fantasy, but also the capacity for making it happen.

You know, it's strange and something to reflect on, how far from my own values I got in relating to uBPDx. Because focusing on actions and results, not subjective intent or interpretations, is a really important thing to me and guides a lot of how I engage with the world.

Also, how a person deals with death is important to me. I've had friendships... not ended exactly, but significantly altered because the person did not show up to a funeral or show support for the bereaved because they found it too emotionally challenging. For example, after a close friend killed herself, a mutual friend who used to live with her didn't come to the funeral and also chose not to reach out to her bereaved partner because he 'didn't know what to say'. I found this impossible to reconcile with a continuing close friendship with that mutual acquaintance. So it's very strange that I somehow papered over uBPDx's weird behavior in my mind.

Obviously, I am re-interpreting old cues and bits of information in the context of having witnessed terrible behavior at the end of the relationship. There are definitely things I could have been more cognizant of, but I suppose it takes a while for a pattern to emerge and there's no need to beat myself up about it. If I experienced something similar in future (a bizarre disconnect between seemingly caring words and actions and a totally disconnected/cold response to death and bereavement), I would be much more cautious and maybe treat that as a red flag.

Actually, I'm going to state it directly: 'If someone tells you they didn't go to see their grandmother while she was dying, and that grandmother had loved them and supported them and never been abusive and wanted to see them but they chose not to go for no reason they can explain, and they don't express any concern about the impact this might have had on their grandmother - DO NOT PURSUE A CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH THIS PERSON'.

Seems pretty obvious when you write it out.

The "bottomless pit" drives a lot of their behavior, and motivates a lot of their actions. 

While I don't think there's any one theory of behavior that explains all the motivations behind a pwBPD's actions, I think the bottomless pit, the need for constant attention (positive or negative), explains a lot of them. 

Like in my experience, BPDxw demanding I swear I'd stay single if she died before me, or using her grandpa's passing to pick fights with me about whether or not my family showed enough sympathy for "her loss" and that sort of thing, there's no room in their minds for genuine concern for others; in the end it all comes back on how the loss affects them.  They may know to temper their behavior to some extent when they know a lot of people are watching; they can feign sympathy as long as they feel they need to, but once they're out of public view, the mask drops.