I created this blog for my senior exit project for AP Literature. Hopefully, it will be a way to get feedback from and share my research with my classmates, instructor, and anyone doing a related Google search.

By some unknown means of the universe, I came into possession of a book titled Understanding the Borderline Mother: Helping Her Children Transcend the Intense, Unpredictable, and Volatile Relationship. What a mouthful of a title, and an intense one at that. Intrigued, I began to read. The book was interesting to say the least. I learned that Marry Todd Lincoln, wife of one of America’s most celebrated presidents, was suspected to be “one of these mothers”. The book describes the lives of other nameless mothers who have Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), and their unhealthy relationships with their children. Each parent-child relationship was unique, and true to the book’s title in being unpredictable. I began to wonder, how can this go on? With the advances in psychiatric treatment, how can these children still be helplessly subject to live with these mothers?

For the next four-ish months, I intend to research how parents with personality disorders affect their children. There are ten recognized personality disorders which are characterized by a common inability to cope with daily life or to maintain functional relationships with family, friends, and co-workers. When faced with minor problems, these people all react differently, but none in a rational or purposeful way. It has not yet been determined whether personality disorders are learned from parents by children, or genetically inherited. One thing is certain, these children struggle to lead normal lives.