Borderline: A Memoir

By Marie Stella McClure

Memoir of children's homes, severe drug addiction, recovery and undiagnosed mental illness.This book aims to reach out to young people in care, care leavers, all drug users be they recovered or still dependent as well as those suffering from various mental health issues and their loved ones. It could also useful for mental health professionals working with people of all ages as well as social workers involved with young people with problematic behaviour.Please note, it is not a self-help book in any way although I do explain at the end the methods which I have found helpful in overcoming my impulsive behaviour, irrational thoughts and erratic emotions.Many names have been changed to protect confidentiality although all places are in their true name.Musically gifted & highly intelligent yet painfully timid Marie?s future looks bright until her sudden wilful and unexplained rebellion delivers her from her strict catholic upbringing and private convent school education into the gutter of social services care at the age of twelve. Thrust into a world of screwed up teenagers where soft drugs and petty crime are the norm; she soon learns her only chance of survival is to become the most reckless of them all. Her life in care is completely self-destructive, filled with run away attempts, substance abuse, multiple juvenile court appearances and extreme promiscuity. Her explosive temper ensures she is thrown out of every home she is placed in. At sixteen she is put out to live on her own and a vicious cycle of addiction takes over. By the time she is eighteen, she is injecting drugs on a daily basis and involved in a relationship with a violent psychopath. She has fallen so low even the other junkies look down on her. No one knows what went so wrong, least of all Marie. When she gets pregnant at twenty-one, Marie manages for the first time in years to get clean and begins building a stable life for herself and her daughter but life remains a huge struggle. Despite going for counselling, embarking on various college courses, spiritual practices, and taking up kickboxing, her moods remain explosive and her emotions continually overwhelm her. She cannot function in any romantic relationship and finds herself in constant conflict with all those around her. Even after moving to Spain and ?living the dream? she feels often there is something missing inside and persists in self-medicating with cannabis and prescription drugs. She swings from one extreme to the other in every area of her life but it isn?t until she is thirty-eight years old she finally gets diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. Finally, an answer to it all. This book is a true account of Marie?s experiences and a life long case study of this devastating mental illness that causes havoc, drama and misery for the sufferer and anyone else involved with them.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1521256861
• ISBN13: 9781521256862
• Release Date: May 2017
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 460 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 1.0" x 5.0"