Thank you for joining me for another episode on the podcast Of Course.. They Make Me Crazy!  

I’m the host & creator April Norris.   

Guess who is joining me again?! 

The one and only Dr. Daniel Lobel.  He’s back to talk more about Borderline Personality Disorder.  I wanted to have him on again because our first Borderline Personality Disorder conversation was downloaded the most of out of all the other episodes recorded this past year!  

I invited him back to help me close out SEASON ONE of this podcast. It’s the one-year anniversary on June 12, 2021!  Ironically, it will also be the 5th year anniversary of my mom’s death.  It’s ironic because I didn’t plan those dates. I believe it’s her way of saying – APRIL, I APPROVE! She is why I started this podcast for you.  

My mom, Joni suffered from Bipolar Disorder and other illnesses. It was magical growing up with her, but it could be miserable too.  However, even on her darkest days, she would give her last penny to anyone who needed it. She was giving and loving but her mental illness and pain pill addiction won out.   

My hope is our stories will help you know that you’re not alone when living or loving someone with a mental illness.  I say our stories because if Mom we’re alive, she would be by my side driving me fucking crazy but supporting this journey. My biggest regret is that I didn’t have the idea to do this while she was still here. 

I invited Dr. Lobel to join me because he’s spent nearly 30 years helping families who suffer from BPD. He’s written 2 books called When Your Daughter Has BPD and When Your Mother Has Borderline Personality Disorder. He has a 3rd book coming out in January available on Amazon titled Stop Walking on Eggshells for Parents: How to Help Your Child with Borderline Personality Disorder Without Losing Yourself. 

I also wanted to invite him on because of a “somewhat negative” email I got a few weeks ago referring to the first BPD episode we did nearly a year ago.  

Our conversation kicks off with what she wrote. 

She wrote:   

I felt compelled to reach out and let you know that I really wish you’d have treated the BPD episode with compassion. I have BPD because of complex PTSD due persistent childhood trauma. My mother has dissociative identity disorder and was in a mental institution the majority of my early life. And I have a father who was too preoccupied to give a dang about the emotional needs of his kids. I never had a chance to develop a healthy sense of self. No one was available to teach me to relate to others in a healthy way. How about you talk about that on your show? That those who have BPD probably ended up with it from some sort of childhood trauma and that we should treat them with kindness, respect, and compassion. Everyone deserves that, right? Even those with BPD.  

Not cool, guys.  

It ends there.  

It’s never our intent to disrespect anyone.  

Dr. Lobel addresses her email but more importantly some of the issues surrounding her situation. One being defragmentation of identity.  He explains how someone can start to detach from their identity and start forming other identities to help them cope from the current abusive situation their in.   

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