Tami Green

For Immediate Release
January 22, 2009        

Nation's First Personal Coach to People with
 Borderline Personality Disorder Offers Hope & Resources
to Sufferers & Families Nationwide

Tami Green of Houston, TX launches campaign to educate public
about common but little-understood illness

San Francisco -- Borderline Personality Disorder is one of the most commonly diagnosed mental illnesses in the United States, yet few people are familiar with the symptoms and fewer still understand the treatments that can bring relief. Tami Green aims to change that by publicizing the disorder and the evidence-based treatments bringing improvements and even a cure. Supported by medical experts across the country, Green offers help and hope to the millions suffering from this disorder and to their partners, families and friends.

More people suffer from BPD (5.9%) than with bipolar disorder (2.6% of the U.S. population over age 18 each year) and schizophrenia (1%) combined, yet public awareness about BPD is almost nil. A recent study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry found that 5.9% of the population suffers from BPD at some time in their lives. That means more than 18 million people in the U.S. When four additional people, including partners, family members, friends and co-workers, are counted, 90 million people nationwide are affected by the pain and suffering this illness causes.

Backed by experts from Harvard Medical School, Baylor College of Medicine and The Menninger Clinic in Texas, University College London, and others, Tami Green -- diagnosed and now recovered from Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)-- is launching a national public education campaign to help more people understand the illness and its potential for a high rate of recovery. It's also important to Green that no one suffers as long as she did before finding that help. "Before recovery, living with BPD is like living in the eye of a hurricane," she said. "It's chaotic, frightening, and lonely, in part because most of us have never heard of the disorder and have no idea what's wrong."

Green is one of the few people willing to speak publicly about her illness, diagnosis, treatment, and recovery. Because she no longer meets the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) criteria for BPD -- she has successfully overcome the symptoms and now leads a happy, healthy life -- Green serves as a beacon of hope to people with BPD and their loved ones.

As the nation's first life coach serving people with BPD, she brings to her work the unique perspective of someone who knows the depths of the disorder and can help others with BPD understand there's a way out. She also is the first coach in the U.S. who serves as a compassionate and insightful interpreter for partners, families and friends, explaining the behaviors of a person with BPD and teaching effective ways loved ones can cope and also help.

 

Recovery is Possible

Backed by some of the nation's leading authorities on Borderline Personality Disorder, Green is reaching out to others. "Tami Green's life story of BPD recovery offers hope and inspiration to those asking the question, 'Can I have a life with joy even though I have Borderline Personality Disorder,'" said Blaise A. Aguirre, MD, Medical Director of the Adolescent Dialectical Behavioral Therapy Center at McLean Hospital in Belmont, MA, affiliated with Harvard Medical School.

"Tami has a unique ability to put an articulate and hopeful face on what, for many years, was thought to be an untreatable clinical condition," said Perry D. Hoffman, PhD, President of the National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder (NEA-BPD).

With the right kinds of therapy and other supports, BPD is highly treatable. "I believe all of us who understand Borderline Personality Disorder have a moral obligation to help educate the public," Green said. "Otherwise it's like having a cure for cancer and not sharing it with the world."

Green dedicates her professional life to coaching people with symptoms of the disorder and their loved ones to better understand the illness, find effective treatments, and turn their lives around. She has launched a Web site (BorderlinePersonalitySupport.com) and is speaking out nationwide about how treatable the illness really is. "Too many lives are lost because the public knows too little about BPD," she said.

Symptoms are Serious

Up to ten percent of adults with BPD commit suicide. A person with BPD has a suicide rate 400 times greater than the general public, and a young woman with BPD has a suicide rate 800 times greater than the general public. More than half of adults with BPD self-injure their bodies. People with BPD have a severe inability to regulate their emotions, and swing wildly between adoration and anger, keeping interpersonal relationships inconsistent. They also are unable control impulses. At the very least, people with BPD live lives of chaos with family relationships, friendships, and working relationships largely destroyed. Loved ones are left confused, afraid, and unsure about how to help. Green assists them as well.

Green is the first personal coach in the U.S. to offer coaching focused on helping people better understand the symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder, offering support and understanding, assisting them in finding therapists who offer treatment proven to be effective, and guiding clients to a wealth of resources. "I've been there," Green said simply. "I lost my children, my job, and my belief that I would ever find help. Now I specialize in helping people in similar situations find a way out." She credits her recovery in part to finding a therapist who practices Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, one of just three methods shown to effectively treat BPD.

As a coach and professional speaker, Green has been described as "inspiring, intelligent and intuitive" by Martha Beck, America's foremost life coach, best-selling author and O Magazine columnist. Her clients, whether someone with BPD, a family member or friend, often say Green's unique perspective as someone who deeply understands the worldview of a person with BPD is priceless.

Coaching Aids Recovery

Research has found that some kinds of coaching boost the effects of traditional therapy treatment methods. McLean Hospital, the largest psychiatric affiliate of Harvard Medical School and home to some of the nation's premiere experts in treating Borderline Personality Disorder, launched a "coaching and positive psychology initiative" last fall to further study techniques and effects.

Green's work is well regarded by nationally prominent members of the medical, research and mental health communities, including John G. Gunderson, MD, a Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard medical School and Director of the Center for Treatment and Research on Borderline Personality Disorder at McLean. "Tami is living proof of what our research states - those with BPD can and do get better," he said.

Her long list of credentials includes Martha Beck Life Coach certification, NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Peer-to-Peer and NAMI Connections certification, Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) Group Leader training, countless hours of coaching experience, and inspirational speaking to large and small groups. In 2007, she delivered testimony to a Congressional briefing that helped pass House Resolution 1005, naming May National Borderline Personality Disorder Awareness Month.

About one in every four adults in the U.S. suffers from a mental disorder in a given year, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, and one in five young adults (ages 19 to 25) has a personality disorder.  "One recent study found that the rate of remission among people with BPD receiving treatment was 75% after six years, with few patients relapsing," Green said. "With the odds of recovery that high, we need to let every single person suffering from BPD know there is help and there is hope."

For more information, see www.Direen.com/TamiGreen for documents including:

                        - Tami Green Bio
- Tami Green's Fact Sheet on Borderline Personality Disorder
- List of Medical/Academic Experts Who Treat Borderline Personality Disorder (bios, supportive statements about Tami Green, and contact information)

See also:         Tami Green's Web Site: www.BorderlineDisorderSupport.com (video of her public presentations, checklist of BPD symptoms, articles and other resources)

National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder (NEA-BPD) Web site: www.borderlinepersonalitydisorder.com

Robert O. Friedel, MD Web site: www.bpddemystified.com