A short documentary-style video has been released to educate the public and the medical community about borderline personality disorder (BPD), an increasingly diagnosed and yet, to many, relatively obscure mental illness." Back From the Edge" features first-person accounts by people who have the disorder and their family members and information from leading clinicians and researchers.

According to the nonprofit Borderline Personality Disorder Resource Center at New York Presbyterian Hospital, approximately 10 million Americans, or 2 percent of the U.S. population, have BPD. About 75 percent of them are women. In fact, according to Otto Kernberg, M.D., the center's clinical director, the condition is actually two to three times more prevalent than bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, and yet many people have never heard of it,

"Due to the complexities of this diagnosis, an extraordinarily large number of people go misdiagnosed for years before receiving proper treatment," said Kernberg. "But once they begin getting the right treatment and support, many people with [BPD] can sustain loving relationships and enjoy meaningful careers."

More information about BPD and the Borderline Personality Disorder Resource Center, as well as ordering instructions for "Back From the Edge," is posted at<www.bpdresourcecenter.org>.▪