Not Broken

Not Broken
Understanding Borderline Personality Disorder and the Treatments That Actually Work

You've probably been told this diagnosis means you're manipulative. Untreatable. That this is simply who you are, and it isn't going to change.

None of that is true - and the evidence has said so for years.

Not Broken is the book that closes the gap between what the research actually shows about borderline personality disorder and what people with BPD are usually told. Written for readers who've just been diagnosed, who've lived with it for decades, or who love someone who has it, this book walks through:

• What the nine diagnostic criteria actually feel like from the inside - not just how they look on a checklist
• Where BPD really comes from: the biosocial theory, genetics, environment, and an honest look at what the neuroscience does and doesn't tell us
• The four major evidence-based treatments - DBT, MBT, Schema Therapy, and TFP - explained in plain language, including what a typical session involves and how to tell if a program is the real thing
• A clear-eyed chapter on medication: what has evidence behind it, and what doesn't
• Living with it: relationships, family, work, crisis planning, and what to do when self-harm has become a coping tool
• The long-term outcome data almost no one shares with newly diagnosed patients - and it's far more hopeful than the stereotypes suggest

Every claim is labeled by strength of evidence - Strong, Moderate, Limited, or Contested - so you always know whether you're reading settled science or an open question.

This isn't a book about managing a hopeless condition. It's a book about a treatable one, written by someone who thinks you deserved the truth about it a long time ago.