Women and Borderline Personality Disorder: Symptoms and Stories

by Janet Wirth-Cauchon

Overview

At the beginning of the twentieth century, “hysteria” was a medical or psychiatric diagnosis applied primarily to women. In fact, the term itself comes from the Greek, meaning “wandering womb.” We have since learned, however, that this diagnosis evolved from certain assumptions about women’s social roles and mental characteristics, and is no longer in use.

The modern equivalent of hysteria, however, may be borderline personality disorder, defined as “a pervasive pattern of instability of self-image, interpersonal relationships, and mood, beginning in early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts.” This diagnosis is applied to women so much more often than to men that feminists have begun to raise important questions about the social, cultural, and even the medical assumptions underlying this “illness.” Women are said to be “unstable” when they may be trying to reconcile often contradictory and conflicting social expectations.

In Women and Borderline Personality Disorder, Janet Wirth-Cauchon presents a feminist cultural analysis of the notions of “unstable” selfhood found in case narratives of women diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. This exploration of contemporary post-Freudian psychoanalytic notions of the self as they apply to women’s identity conflicts is an important contribution to the literature on social constructions of mental illness in women and feminist critiques of psychiatry in general.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813528915
Publisher:	Rutgers University Press
Publication date:	12/01/2000
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	235
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

JANET WIRTH-CAUCHON is an associate professor of sociology at Drake University, where she teaches courses in sociology and women’s studies.

Editorial Reviews

Impressive in its synthesis of many different ideas...both clinicians and people diagnosed with BPD may find much of value in Wirth-Cauchon's thoughtful and provoking analysis.

Metapsychology

A superb, up-to-date feminist analysis of the borderline condition....Characterized by stereotypically feminine qualities, such as poor interpersonal boundaries and an unstable sense of self, borderline diagnosis has been questioned by many as a veiled replacement of the hysteria diagnosis....Wirth-Cauchon includes narratives from women exhibiting the theoretical underpinnings of the borderline diagnosis....The author is rigorous in her analysis, and mainstream academics and diagnosticians should take note lest they create yet another label that disregards the contradictory and conflicting expectations experienced by so many women. Includes an excellent bibliography and a wealth of good reference. Highly recommended.

Choice

This book contributes to a rich, feminist interdisciplinary theoretical understanding of women's psychological distress, and represents an excellent companion volume to Dana Becker's book titled Through the Looking Glass.

Psychology of Women Quarterly

Wonderfully written....[The] argument proceeds with an impeccable and transparent logic, the writing is sophisticated, evocative, even inspired. This work should have enormous appeal.

author of Realities and Relationships - Kenneth Gergen

Wonderfully written.... This work should have enormous appeal.

Kenneth Gergen