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Identity issues

sunflowerStorm1021 February 17th, 2021
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I know an unstable sense of identity is part of BPD, but I hate it. I’ve never been able to make my own choices in life due to overbearing family members and abusive partners. Now that I’m slowly getting away from my family and I have a supportive partner, I want to try to finally be myself. The problem is I have no idea who I am. How do I know who I am without someone telling me what I’m supposed to be?

3
LostZyphr February 18th, 2021
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I understanf your situation, as I am currently going through the same thing. Personally, I have been choosing to try out things I would've never considered with my given identity (as I like to call it). I started to hate having someone tell me what to do so at one point my "rebellious behavior" got me diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder. All I did was try an edible and choose to leave what I felt was an unsafe situation at my parents and I got put in Juvenile detention for 2 and a half months. But I've made progress from that. Now I have my own place with my boyfriend and our cat.

LucieLucie February 20th, 2021
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Hi there, I am currently going through a very similar process. I have always let others define who I was, or I have rather copied them as I had no idea what type of behaviour was my own and what things did I like by myself, not because of the others. And as Im going through with it, I feel like the only way (at least for me) is to try anything you can and find out what you dislike, rather than what you like - because anytime I feel like I like something, I can never be sure if its really true or if Im just projecting my friend into it or if I just have a happy memory connected to it and so on. But as bpd goes often along with other conditions such as anxiety or depression, it can be so very hard and exhausting to get up and actually do it. This depends on your personal situation. But maybe now that you have somebody supportive on your side, you could use it and talk to your partner and try to think of ways he could help you find new things, maybe introduce you to some of his favorite activities and so on. Just bevare, its a really long run and it will take time. So be patient ❤️ And if you ever wanted to talk about it deeper, feel free to send me a message, it might feel nice to have somebody who is going through the same thing 🙃

pluckyMoon0531 February 21st, 2021
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I can empathize with you on this one. The best advice I can offer is to start small. Ask small questions first like: Whats my favorite color? Do I even like chicken, beef, pork, broccoli, potatoes, etc.? Do I like comedy, action, etc. Movies? This type of small questions seemed so large to me at the time, but they were easier for me to figure out than the ones I'm struggling with now.