Hi, this is my first post

[Annice]

Hi. My daughter has been in counseling since 6, and has been hospitalized around 6-7 times. There were diagnoses before - bipolar, anxiety. But no meds ever really helped. Her current counselor and her last counselor (who worked with her for 5 years) both have mentioned "personality disorder. She was emotionally, verbally and psychologically abused by her father. Her mental health professionals all agree that he had a personality disorder as well. I am her Mom, and I am her caretaker, so I deal with her every day. Some days are not so bad. But every day I feel like I am walking on eggshells. She is fairly functional at school and around people who do not know her well. You don't really see the symptoms until you fet to know her and are around her a lot. Then it becomes evident that even her thought processes are really off kilter. You never know what will set her off. She hits herself in the head or hits her head on the wall. During the Summer she got upset and broke a mirror then slashed her wrists with the glass. Her counselor says it is nearly impossible to talk with her rationally about her behavior. We are starting EMDR and DBT with her soon. To top that all off, she has some serious medical issues, so, I am with her much more since I coordinate all that and go with her. Lately, I have been thinking that she is ruining my life. So much revolves around her and her care. Family things are very often affected by her emotional outbursts. I am hoping she will be able to live independently. Because I am not sure how much more of this I can stand.

Our objective is to better understand the struggles our child faces and to learn the skills to improve our relationship and provide a supportive environment and also improve on our own emotional responses, attitudes and effectiveness as a family leaders

[smallbluething]

Hi Annice and welcome. I'm a newbie here myself but it sounds like you are going through some really tough times with your daughter.

How old is she - is she an adult? I'm sure the old hands here will have useful experiences to share - I'm still learning in dealing with my own daughter.