Case studies
Moray Borderline Personality Disorder Network - the role of the community psychiatric nurse (CPN)
There are a number of reasons why members felt it was vital to invite a CPN to become part of the group. First and most obviously, she would be able to use her professional skills to support people. If necessary, she could step in if anyone appeared to be at serious risk. In addition, her presence would provide an opportunity for members to collaborate informally with a health professional.
Perhaps equally important however, is the fact that the CPN would be able to demonstrate that someone without BPD might also want to make changes to her life. Her involvement helps group members to realise that other people also experience a range of emotions and difficulties and need support in order to achieve their goals. This has the effect of 'normalising' their experience: helping people with BPD to understand that they are not so different from other members of society.
In this situation, the conventional power balance between a health service professional and service-users is reversed. Instead of help flowing from the nurse to service-users, service-users offer to help the nurse. Although they are not professional helpers, service-users have a wealth of life experiences to draw on. To survive in difficult circumstances, they have had to employ a range of creative tactics and develop many valuable skills. This group offers opportunities for service-users to identify ways in which others can benefit from their struggles and successes. The CPN reports that this experience of getting something back from service-users feels 'strange' but 'really rather nice'.
