Who Am I Today? | Unstable Identity in BPD

Ever looked in the mirror and felt like a stranger? Or changed your personality, hobbies, or even values depending on who you’re with? If your sense of self feels like a moving target, you’re not alone.

Hear how BPD* turns life into a series of reinventions, how relationships shape identity, and how neuroscience, trauma research, and therapy offer a path toward a more stable sense of self.

Trigger Warning: We mention suicide and early trauma. Take care and pause if you need to.

🌱 Have questions, stories, or something you'd like us to cover? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at bpddiariespodcast@gmail.com and let’s keep the conversation going.

🎧 Looking for guided meditations made for emotional regulation, BPD, and more? Check out our YouTube channel Empowered Heroes for free meditations created with love and care: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@Empoweredheroes⁠⁠⁠

Also available on ⁠⁠⁠Spotify at Empowered Heroes Meditations⁠⁠⁠.

📩 For support on your BPD recovery journey with DBT-based skills and Mindfulness practices, email me for a free 30-Minute Consultation: ⁠steff@bpdsupport.org⁠ or check out the website: www.bpdsupport.org

*If you or someone you care about is struggling with symptoms of BPD, know that you’re not alone. Support is out there, and healing is absolutely possible.

📚 Referenced Research Includes

Bendstrup, G., Simonsen, E., Kongerslev, M. T., Jørgensen, M. S., Petersen, L. S., Thomsen, M. S., & Vestergaard, M. (2021). Narrative coherence of autobiographical memories in women with borderline personality disorder and associations with childhood adversity. Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation, 8(1), 18. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40479-021-00159-5

Fonagy, P., & Luyten, P. (2009). A developmental, mentalization-based approach to the understanding and treatment of borderline personality disorder. Development and psychopathology, 21(4), 1355-1381.

Mohana, & Moon, C. (2024). Towards understanding the direct and indirect effects of borderline personality features on identity disturbance. Mental Health Science, 2(2), e60. https://doi.org/10.1002/mhs2.60

Roepke, S., Schröder‐Abé, M., Schütz, A., Jacob, G., Dams, A., Vater, A., ... & Lammers, C. H. (2011). Dialectic behavioural therapy has an impact on self‐concept clarity and facets of self‐esteem in women with borderline personality disorder. Clinical psychology & psychotherapy, 18(2), 148-158. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.684

Salgado-Pineda, P., Ferrer, M., Calvo, N., Duque-Yemail, J. D., Costa, X., Rué, À., ... & Pomarol-Clotet, E. (2025). Brain functional abnormality in drug naïve adolescents with borderline personality disorder during self-and other-reflection. Translational psychiatry, 15(1), 157. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-025-03368-6

Yen, S., Shea, M. T., Sanislow, C. A., Grilo, C. M., Skodol, A. E., Gunderson, J. G., ... & Morey, L. C. (2004). Borderline personality disorder criteria associated with prospectively observed suicidal behavior. American Journal of Psychiatry, 161(7), 1296-1298.