The Buddha & The Borderline - 9781572247109

"I am determined to fight for my survival. I do not deserve to be trapped in hell."

"The Buddha and the Borderline is a masterpiece."-Perry D. Hoffman Ph.d., president of the National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder (NEA-BPD)

"Destined to become a classic in the growing literature on borderline personality disorder... Seriously funny, authentic, and sublime in its wisdom."-Blaise Aguirre, MD, medical director of the Adolescent Dialectical Behavior Therapy Residential Program at McLean Hospital in Belmont, MA

"A must-read for people with this disorder, their families and loved ones, and mental health professionals."-Robert O. Friedel, MD, author of Borderline Personality Disorder Demystified

"Kiera creates a window into the soul of one coming to grips with severe mental illness. Fully exposed, she shows us the pain, pleasure, and finally, the redemption of the borderline experience."-Tami Green, internationally recognized speaker, life coach, and advocate for those in recovery from mental illness

Kiera Van Gelder's first suicide attempt at the age of twelve marked the onset of her struggles with drug addiction, depression, post-traumatic stress, self-harm, and chaotic romantic relationshipsùall of which eventually led to doctors' belated diagnosis of borderline personality disorder twenty years later.

The Buddha and the Borderline is a window into this mysterious and debilitating condition, an unblinking portrayal of one woman's fight against the emotional devastation of borderline personality disorder. This haunting, intimate memoir chronicles both the devastating period that led to Kiera's eventual diagnosis and her inspirational recovery through therapy, Buddhist spirituality, and a few online dates gone wrong. Kiera's story sheds light on the private struggle to transform suffering into compasion for herseff and others, and is essential reading for all seeking to understand what it truly means to recover and reclaim the desire to live.

Kiera's talent for vividly describing borderline hopelessness and pain while keeping me laughing with her tales of life as a 'lonely and increasingly horny receptionist.' While this book has something for everyone, Kiera's detailed account of how she recovered from this deadly disorder will be enormously inspiring to people with borderline personality disorder and their family members."ùRandi Kreger, author of Stop Walking on Eggshells