Oh Boy.
Positive things first.
Things that Make Me Happy
- I will be in Rome in less than 24 hours!!
- My ass-kicking pirate-warrior-elf-princess boots
- Having acquired a whole bottle of mint syrup so that I can make menthe à l'eau whenever I want it.
- Finally getting the chance to meet Gail
- Bizarre explodey-noise in the middle of the night (although I'd be happier if it hadn't woken me up and if I knew what had caused it. Still, provided it didn't kill anybody, it was pretty cool.)
- Ridiculously low airfare to London. And I mean "cheaper than a discount sweater" low. Sarah's birthday, here I come!
Sorrowful Things
-You've probably figured out the main one from reading my mom's comment on my last entry ; my littlest sister Emily is now officially diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. She's been at "boarding school" (read : in a residential care facility) for the past four months, has been in and out of the behavioral hospital at least five times this year, and they're thinking she'll need to be in the facility (it's called something chirpy like Meadowbrook or Merryweather) for at least another year. We could sort of see this coming, I guess, but it's difficult and frightening to think that she will not, as we've all been hoping, snap out of it as soon as she's done being an overdramatic adolescent.
That may be the most difficult thing to understand, especially for my brother. My brother is a very rational creature, and he gives Emmy a hard time sometimes, accusing her of 'faking it for attention.' It's true that she creates a lot of her problems. She's very good at telling people what they want to hear, and she's a very persuasive manipulator. (F'rinstance, when she pretended that she fell, hit her head, passed out, lost her memory, and had to go to the hospital. She later told us that she'd really just hit her head on the wall to make a bump, but that didn't turn out to be true either. I can't even remember what actually happened, and I don't think she's even sure anymore.) I guess what we have to realize is that going to such extreme measures to manipulate people into giving her attention is not 'faking a mental illness.' It's having a mental illness. The things she does seem perfectly rational and justified to her, and even when they don't, she cannot stop herself from doing them.
Googling "BPD" unearths results that are rather less than promising ; it seems people see relationships with people like my sister as things that one 'survives.' My sister's therapist once told her that if she didn't start working towards regulating herself she'd end up in and out of institutions for the rest of her life, and apparently that happens a good deal. I love my sister. When she can keep herself from swinging out of control, she's strong, self-aware, compassionate, creative, and mature. I hope that that's the part of her that wins out. If you're the type to pray, or send good karma, or whatever, please say a word or two to God/Goddess/the Force/the Flying Spaghetti Monster/David Bowie for my li'l sis.
(Also, sorry if I'm being a bit un-PC about things- I'm kinda gobsmacked still.)
Things that Make Me Happy
- I will be in Rome in less than 24 hours!!
- My ass-kicking pirate-warrior-elf-princess boots
- Having acquired a whole bottle of mint syrup so that I can make menthe à l'eau whenever I want it.
- Finally getting the chance to meet Gail
- Bizarre explodey-noise in the middle of the night (although I'd be happier if it hadn't woken me up and if I knew what had caused it. Still, provided it didn't kill anybody, it was pretty cool.)
- Ridiculously low airfare to London. And I mean "cheaper than a discount sweater" low. Sarah's birthday, here I come!
Sorrowful Things
-You've probably figured out the main one from reading my mom's comment on my last entry ; my littlest sister Emily is now officially diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. She's been at "boarding school" (read : in a residential care facility) for the past four months, has been in and out of the behavioral hospital at least five times this year, and they're thinking she'll need to be in the facility (it's called something chirpy like Meadowbrook or Merryweather) for at least another year. We could sort of see this coming, I guess, but it's difficult and frightening to think that she will not, as we've all been hoping, snap out of it as soon as she's done being an overdramatic adolescent.
That may be the most difficult thing to understand, especially for my brother. My brother is a very rational creature, and he gives Emmy a hard time sometimes, accusing her of 'faking it for attention.' It's true that she creates a lot of her problems. She's very good at telling people what they want to hear, and she's a very persuasive manipulator. (F'rinstance, when she pretended that she fell, hit her head, passed out, lost her memory, and had to go to the hospital. She later told us that she'd really just hit her head on the wall to make a bump, but that didn't turn out to be true either. I can't even remember what actually happened, and I don't think she's even sure anymore.) I guess what we have to realize is that going to such extreme measures to manipulate people into giving her attention is not 'faking a mental illness.' It's having a mental illness. The things she does seem perfectly rational and justified to her, and even when they don't, she cannot stop herself from doing them.
Googling "BPD" unearths results that are rather less than promising ; it seems people see relationships with people like my sister as things that one 'survives.' My sister's therapist once told her that if she didn't start working towards regulating herself she'd end up in and out of institutions for the rest of her life, and apparently that happens a good deal. I love my sister. When she can keep herself from swinging out of control, she's strong, self-aware, compassionate, creative, and mature. I hope that that's the part of her that wins out. If you're the type to pray, or send good karma, or whatever, please say a word or two to God/Goddess/the Force/the Flying Spaghetti Monster/David Bowie for my li'l sis.
(Also, sorry if I'm being a bit un-PC about things- I'm kinda gobsmacked still.)