Tag Archive for: identity

Real life vs. Social Media: Who are you really? (BPD & The Internet)

Please welcome back guest blogger Michelle Dabach, MA, MFT, of the Roanne Program in Southern California. You have to admit, you are not the same person online that you are in person. Online, you’re courageous, more confident, and you have an opinion that you don’t second guess. You might be more or less confrontational, you’re successful, […]

BPD and Identity Issues Around Your Name

For most of my life, I’ve felt a lack of a sense of connection with my name.  While this can be true for many people who don’t have BPD, I have connected with many people over the years who have Borderline Personality Disorder and have also had this experience. A conversation today got me thinking […]

Saying “No” For the Sake of Your Own Well-Being

Complicated by the complexities of identity disturbance, fear of rejection and abandonment, and self-esteem issues, I have pretty much always had a desperate need and desire to be liked.  I have found it quite distressing when someone possibly or outright did not like me.  I took it as the end of the world, and if […]

Who Am I? This Personality Test Can Help With A Piece of the Puzzle

This evening for one of my classes, we had to take a personality test called The Jung Typology Test. As a person with Borderline Personality Disorder who has had difficulty at times pinpointing my own sense of individuality and identity (though this has improved substantially three years into Dialectical Behavior Therapy), I was very intrigued […]

DBT Distress Tolerance Skill: Prayer

This week in DBT, one of my fellow group members went over her Diary Card. She shared that she used the skill of Prayer, a Distress Tolerance Skill that falls under the “Improve The Moment Section.”ImageryMeaningPrayerRelaxationOne thing at a timeVacationEncouragement(Above list from page 165 of what I consider to be the essential DBT Bible: Skills Training […]

Please, please…Don’t Leave Me | The Borderline’s Plea

Since recently reading and blogging about the speculation that Marilyn Monroe may have had Borderline Personality Disorder, I became more intrigued.  Last night, I rented the movie, “My Week With Marilyn,” which claims to be based on a true story.  Here are my thoughts around the parallels I have sen in my own life as […]

Discovering the Real YOU When You Have Borderline Personality Disorder

One of the symptoms that was so strong for me and that led to my diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder was extreme distress over not knowing who I am. I described myself as a chameleon to my psychiatrist and to the doctors in the hospital program.  I was becoming both aware and tired of how […]

The Psychic Borderline | Reading Others & Identity Issues

Ok. So I’m not *technically* psychic, but I, like many other people with Borderline Personality Disorder, BPD traits, or emotional sensitivity, have an interesting ability to “read” people. My therapist has clarified that the ability to do this is actually a learned survival skill. For those who can relate to what I’ll describe in this article, […]

Easily Influenced? A Borderline’s Struggle with Identity

I’m not sure if other people with BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder) feel this way or can relate, but I am pretty easily influenced.  I might hear a strong opinion that radically differs from the one I had been holding until that moment and be swayed completely.  I am not trying to say that I am gullible, an idiot, […]