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After reading this book, I am reminded that some books have a pretty narrow target audience. It is my feeling that this one can offer much more to the borderline reader than to someone who hasn't got this disorder. As newly diagnosed with a borderline personality, reading The Buddha and the Borderline felt to a great extent like a revelation: I found myself highlighting page after page, because it felt like reading about my own life (especially those long years when I'd see a doctor after doctor trying to convince them that there is something more going on than my persistent depression); I found that it helped me put my life experience into perspective, understanding that what felt like a lifetime of blows from all possible directions was actually a massive perspective-distortion issue typical for the disorder, and changeable.
At the same time, I can see how people who know borderlines but don't have the disorder themselves can feel frustrated by the book. The Kiera in the book doesn't apologize, hasn't finished her journey (she leaves off right as she first makes an effort to practice Buddhism with any regularity), is still too much in the epicenter of her own experiences in order to connect emotionally with anyone outside, especially with people not having the disorder. If she sees the suffering of those around her, she doesn't report on it.
Then again, they are not the target audience; it is those who live in their own epicentres of skewed perspective. It's a message to them (us) that reads, "Your experience is not unique. There is a reason it happened, it's a medical reason, and I found a something that seems to be work in calming the shockwaves at least a bit, so you probably will find it too." I don't think it is a fault that it doesn't appeal to both side. There are books targeted at those around the BPD patients. I and other people with borderline tend to find these books equally frustrating, feeling that they portray us as unpredictable monsters. Yet, they have their place and they serve a purpose too - validating the suffering of those whose closest ones have BPD, and helping them make sense of the mess and eventually heal.
At the same time, I can see how people who know borderlines but don't have the disorder themselves can feel frustrated by the book. The Kiera in the book doesn't apologize, hasn't finished her journey (she leaves off right as she first makes an effort to practice Buddhism with any regularity), is still too much in the epicenter of her own experiences in order to connect emotionally with anyone outside, especially with people not having the disorder. If she sees the suffering of those around her, she doesn't report on it.
Then again, they are not the target audience; it is those who live in their own epicentres of skewed perspective. It's a message to them (us) that reads, "Your experience is not unique. There is a reason it happened, it's a medical reason, and I found a something that seems to be work in calming the shockwaves at least a bit, so you probably will find it too." I don't think it is a fault that it doesn't appeal to both side. There are books targeted at those around the BPD patients. I and other people with borderline tend to find these books equally frustrating, feeling that they portray us as unpredictable monsters. Yet, they have their place and they serve a purpose too - validating the suffering of those whose closest ones have BPD, and helping them make sense of the mess and eventually heal.