Out of the FOG is an information site and support group offering help to family members and loved-ones of people who suffer from personality disorders.
Out of the FOG was written and developed by people who have experienced a relationship with a family member, spouse or partner who suffers from a personality disorder.
Personality disorders are serious mental-health conditions which affect millions of people but which are often misunderstood and undiagnosed.
Personality disorders negatively affect the quality of life, not only of the people who suffer from them, but also their family members, spouses, partners, friends, colleagues and acquaintances.
The emphasis of Out of the FOG is to describe personality disorders from a Non-personality-disordered individual's point of view. In other words; what is it like to live with a person with Narcissistic Personality Disorder or Borderline Personality Disorder? Where can you find help when you have a parent with a Histrionic or Dependent Personality Disorder? How do you cope when confronted with the prospect of caring for someone with Obsessive-Compulsive or Avoidant Personality Disorder?
The descriptions of personality disorders given here are based not only on the clinical criteria used for diagnosis, but also on the experiences of people who have cared for someone who suffers from a personality disorder; what it feels like, what works and what doesn't.
We often think of people in simple terms such as good and bad, friends and enemies, loving and hateful. Personality disorders are not so simple and people who suffer from them may exhibit behaviors which are sometimes constructive and other times destructive. Over time, this can generate feelings of Fear, Obligation and Guilt (or FOG) in those who come into contact with them.
It is our goal to inform and support family members, spouses, partners, friends and caregivers as they try to work their way out of the confusion, out of the chaos and out of the FOG.
These sections describe what it's like to be in a relationship with an individual who suffers from a personality disorder. There are several different types of relationship including:
Visit our online Support Forum, an online message board and support group where you can talk to others who are in a similar situation as yourself, learn and get help from others in our online community.
Browse through our Top 100 Traits Section. It's packed full of information about some of the different types of behaviors you might encounter when you are living in a relationship with a person who suffers from a personality disorder. Each section includes examples, descriptions of what it feels like and good and bad ideas for coping with difficult or challenging behaviors.
Our Toolbox contains lots of helpful ideas on what it's like to be in a relationship with someone who suffers from a personality disorder, how to cope, what works and what doesn't.
Dealing with a loved-one or family member who suffers from a personality disorder can sometimes feel like navigating through a fog.
People often arrive at the Out of the FOG website feeling a range of emotions from anger to bewilderment to hopelessness from trying to cope with the confusing behaviors exhibited by a personality-disordered individual.
If you have a family member or loved-one who suffers from a personality disorder, it is our hope that the information contained here may help you navigate out of the FOG in your own life.
For More Information & Support...
If you suspect you may have a family member or loved-one who suffers from a personality disorder, we encourage you to learn all you can and surround yourself with support as you learn how to cope.
On Tuesday November 1, 2011, the Out of the FOG Website and Support Forum celebrates 4 years of providing information and support for those with a family member or loved-one who suffers from a personality disorder. Our site receives over 2 million hits per year and our support forum has received more than 68,000 posts from 2700 members. Thanks to all who support OOTF with your participation, time and gifts and help to make this unique community possible.
To increase our site performance we have moved to our own dedicated server. We hope this will provide faster, more reliable downloads and give us more flexibility over the functionality of our site.
We have just released a new version of the Support Forum on Simple Machines Version 2.0. We believe this version of the message board software will give us better protection from spam posters.
