Hi Waggie dog,

I have been dealing with mental illness for around 30 years as well - good times I was in a partial hospitalization last June and the classes were all about DBT. I will look up STEPPS. I think it can be a helpful tool for anyone. I became friends with a girl in there who had BPD, and I felt so bad for her because like you she said there were not a lot of options for treatment. My pdoc gave me the book "I Hate You, Don't Leave Me" to see if I could relate because he thinks I also have BPD. I didn't read it because I'm so sick of adding to my laundry list of diagnosis.

I think that's great that you're helping people. I always feel for the younger patients because I've been down that road and know where it leads. No offense, but a word of advice. Don't deflect or loose sight of your problems by helping others. Through AA I had really hard lessons. I can't change a person and my influence may fall on deaf ears. I had to learn when to move on after putting in my 2 cents and not feel guilty if they lived in self-destruction.

tnt