People with borderline or narcissistic personality disorders have a serious mental illness that primarily affects their intimate, personal, and family relationships. Often they appear to be normally functioning at work and in public interactions, and Narcissists may even be highly effective, in the short term, in some work or social situations. However, in intimate relationships, they can be emotional, aggressive, demeaning, illogical, paranoid, accusing,...

In her first book, Melody Beattie introduced the term codependency and established herself as a pioneer in self-help literature. Twenty-five years later, concepts such as self-care and setting boundaries are part of mainstream culture. This follow-up clears up misconceptions, identifies how codependent behavior has changed, and provides a new generation with a road map to wellness. Codependency, she shows, is not an illness but rather a series of...

Learn how to value your own opinion over those of others. Codependency books are perfect for those of us who live as if what other people think matters more than what we think. This thinking leads to constantly trying to please or even to change others. Codependent behaviors can have negative effects on us and those around us, even leading to a dysfunctional family. It can be difficult to say no to those we love.
A codependency book...

"Your partner's addiction takes a toll on both of your lives. That doesn't mean you should turn your back on the person you love. We've been told that staying with a partner who struggles with addiction-whether it be with drugs, alcohol, or addictive behaviors-means that we're enabling their destructive behavior. That wanting to help them means we're codependent, and that the best thing for both of us is to walk away from the relationship entirely....

Living with an addict can be crazy. Your world becomes consumed with lies, uncertainty, and chaos. Over time, you start to feel hopeless. Learn to rise above the storm, regain control of your life, and detach from the problems of addiction in order to create an environment that encourages a positive change in the addict.

"A scorching memoir of a love affair with an addict, weaving personal reckoning with psychology and history to understand the nature of addiction, codependency, and our appetite for obsessive love. "The disease he has is addiction," Nina Renata Aron writes of her boyfriend, K. "The disease I have is loving him." Their love affair is dramatic, urgent, overwhelming-an intoxicating antidote to the long, lonely days of early motherhood. Soon after they...

Provides advice for adult children of dysfunctional families.