Posts by Robert Fischer, MD
Borderline Personality Disorder Questions and Treatment Approaches
When the phone rings in our Admissions Department, it may be a call from someone wanting information about or admittance to our Optimum Performance Institute. But in the case of our OPI Intensive program for men and women with BPD, that call is often made by someone seeking answers to our most frequently asked borderline…
Read MoreOvercoming Anxiety Related Failure to Launch Issues
Anxiety can be extremely difficult to describe and understand because all of us at times are anxious, and this phenomenon manifests itself in a variety of ways. It may show up in our body by us genuinely having headaches, stomach aches, nausea, or muscle tension. The pain and other uncomfortable physical sensations are real, and…
Read MoreMen & BPD: The Breakdown after the Breakup
Whether you are a male or female with borderline personality disorder or BPD traits dealing with the heartache of a romantic breakup, it’s important to have compassion for the fact that you face additional challenges compared with a young adult who does not experience the exquisite level of emotional sensitivity with which you are so…
Read MoreMagical Thinking OCD: It Keeps the Tigers Away
Magical thinking obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) creates a unique perspective on the world. It’s like having a little voice inside your head constantly whispering irrational beliefs and fears. But for young adults struggling with OCD, magical thinking can seem like the only way to keep the metaphorical tigers at bay. According to the National Institute of Mental…
Read MoreFailure to Launch: Should You Take a Gap Year between High School and College?
Certainly, the transition from high school to college is challenging enough. Add to it a possible complication and distraction of depression or anxiety, a learning or a psychiatric disability, and a young adult and his or her parents often will need additional support. The young adult may be experiencing what is referred to as a…
Read MoreOPI Celebrates Its 10th Anniversary
“If you don’t break your ropes while you are alive, do you think ghosts will do it after?” by Kabir translated by Robert Bly, 1971. This year, OPI celebrates its 10th anniversary. Looking back, I remember in 2004 when Anne and I first talked about our dream of establishing the Optimum Performance Institute. We “broke…
Read MoreEating Disorder Awareness – Statistically the Deadliest of all Mental Illnesses
“Eating Disorders,” a hot topic of conversation in our national dialog this week because February 24th through March 2nd marks the National Eating Disorders Awareness Week. “Eating disorders affect over 11 million people in the U.S.,” says one of many e-mails I recently received on this topic. Others inform me that: “….10-15% of those with…
Read MoreWorking With Families & Young Adults With Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) – Part IV
Borderline Personality Disorder, Families and Solutions Parents of young adults with Borderline Personality Disorder, BPD Traits and Co-occurring Conditions are typically frustrated and feel helpless, even hopeless, about the possibility of change in their families by the time we see them here at OPI Living’s specialized OPI Intensive. Parents have endured so many years in…
Read MoreWorking With Families & Young Adults With Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) – Part III
Borderline Personality Disorder, Families and Anxiety Management All of us have at our command a vast array of defense mechanisms to help us manage anxiety and frustration. We can talk about an issue and come to a reasonable conclusion or we can avoid it. We can blame a problem on someone else or rationalize it…
Read MoreBook Review: “Healing From Borderline Personality Disorder: My Journey Out of Hell Through Dialectical Behavior Therapy” – Personal Story & New Perspective
With nearly 35 years of experience helping families as a practicing child, adolescent and adult psychiatrist, it’s been my privilege to get to know and help so many individuals and their families, including those who I meet in my role as Executive Director of OPI Intensive, a specialized BPD treatment program for young adults who…
Read MoreWorking With Families & Young Adults With Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) – Part II
The Strategy of Compromise: Achieving the Most Favorable Outcome for Young Adults with BPD and their Families Why is it more difficult for young adults with Borderline Personality Traits or Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) to compromise and make decisions? There are many factors that may help explain it. Extreme Sensitivity Many believe that the nervous…
Read MoreWorking With Families & Young Adults With Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) – Part I
Compromise, The Middle Path And Psychotherapy How the MIDDLE PATH approach can assist with the treatment of those young adults with emotional dysregulation and their families. In a recent article in the American Journal of Psychiatry, Dr. Anthony Bateman found that well-structured general psychiatric management was as effective as Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) on all…
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