BPD Diaries: Stories and Science

About BPD Diaries: Stories and Science

I'm Steff, psychologist & BPD Warrior. Join me for unfiltered stories, the latest research, & practical strategies that actually work. It’s real, raw, & honest talk about BPD, with just enough humor to make the hard stuff easier to hear. Whether you're navigating your own diagnosis, supporting someone who is, or just trying to understand, you're welcome here. Brought to you with love by Stephanie Schildknecht Note: Earlier episodes feature my wonderful co-host, Kerry Fisher. Her warmth & laughter remain part of this podcast's story, & I'm so grateful for the foundation we built together.

Publisher

BPD Support

Category

education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

1 May 2025

Latest episode

9 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

58 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   9 Oct 2026

   What Are Psychiatric Drugs Actually Doing to Your Brain? And Do They Help BPD? | Psychiatrist Dr Joanna Moncrieff

   Is Medication the Best Solution for BPD? In this episode, I sit down with Professor Joanna Moncrieff, Professor of Critical and Social Psychiatry at University College London and practising consultant psychiatrist, for a conversation that challenges some of the assumptions about mental health, psychiatric diagnosis and medication. Joanna's work has challenged the idea that psychiatric drugs work by correcting an underlying “chemical imbalance” in the brain. So what does that mean for people with BPD? Content note: This episode discusses psychiatric medication, depression, suicide, trauma and mental health diagnoses. ⚠️ This episode is for education and discussion, not medical advice. Please don't stop or change any medication without talking to your prescriber. Some medications can cause withdrawal effects if stopped suddenly. 🌱 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. If you’d like more support in your journey toward BPD recovery, Steff offers 1:1 sessions using evidence-based tools from DBT, Schema Therapy, and Mindfulness to help you heal. Email for a free 30-Minute Consultation: 📩 steff@bpdsupport.org or check out the website: www.bpdsupport.org References Moncrieff, J. (2025). Chemically imbalanced: The making and unmaking of the serotonin myth. The History Press. Moncrieff, J., Cooper, R. E., Stockmann, T., Amendola, S., Hengartner, M. P., & Horowitz, M. A. (2023). The serotonin theory of depression: A systematic umbrella review of the evidence. Molecular Psychiatry, 28(8), 3243–3256. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-022-01661-0 (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-022-01661-0) Moncrieff, J., Cooper, R. E., Stockmann, T., Amendola, S., Hengartner, M. P., & Horowitz, M. A. (2024). Difficult lives explain depression better than broken brains. Molecular Psychiatry, 29(1), 206–209. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-024-02462-3 (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-024-02462-3) Stoffers-Winterling, J. M., Storebø, O. J., Pereira Ribeiro, J., Kongerslev, M. T., Völlm, B. A., Mattivi, J. T., Faltinsen, E., Todorovac, A., Jørgensen, M. S., Callesen, H. E., Sales, C. P., Schaug, J. P., Simonsen, E., & Lieb, K. (2022). Pharmacological interventions for people with borderline personality disorder. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2022(11), Article CD012956. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD012956.pub2 (https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD012956.pub2) Streit, F., Awasthi, S., Hall, A. S. M., Braun, A., Niarchou, M., Marouli, E., Babajide, O., Frank, J., Zillich, L., Callies, C. M., Avetyan, D., Zillich, E., Naamanka, J., Gonzalez, J., Harder, A., Lu, Y., Aherrahrou, Z., Ahmad, Z.-U.-A., Ask, H., ... Witt, S. H. (2026). Genome-wide association analyses of borderline personality disorder identify 11 loci and highlight shared risk with mental and somatic disorders. Nature Genetics, 58(8), 1831–1844. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-026-02654-3 (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-026-02654-3)

2. 

   25 Sept 2026

   Stronger Than BPD: What Recovery Really Looks Like, And Should You Trust AI With Your Mental Health? | BPD Warrior Debbie Corso

   I Was Hospitalised Again and Again. Then I Discovered DBT What does recovery from BPD actually look like? In this deeply honest conversation, Debbie DeMarco Bennett, better known as Debbie Corso, author of Stronger Than BPD and founder of DBT Path, takes us back to the years when her life was dominated by intense emotions, chaotic relationships, suicidal thoughts and repeated psychiatric hospitalizations. Debbie talks openly about being misunderstood and misdiagnosed, the stigma surrounding BPD, her eventual diagnosis, and the moment DBT began to change the course of her life. Debbie also talks about her concerns about the potential risks of the growing reliance on AI for emotional support and why she wants to be part of shaping how we use it safely. This is a conversation about BPD, DBT, recovery, hope, lived experience, stigma, relationships, AI and what it means to build a life worth living. Resources & Links DBT Path The DBT program offers a 9-month DBT skills class and is designed to make DBT accessible to people worldwide . Website with Blog: https://emotionallysensitive.com/ Debbie's books (written under her pen name, Debbie Corso): Stronger Than BPD: The Girl's Guide to Taking Control of Intense Emotions, Drama, and Chaos Using DBT The Stronger Than BPD Journal: DBT Activities to Help You Manage Emotions, Heal from Borderline Personality Disorder, and Discover the Wise Woman Within (co-written with Kathryn C. Holt, LCSW Other Books Mentioned: Self-Compassion Workbook for BPD: Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills to Find Self-Forgiveness, Healing, and Self-Love with Borderline Personality Disorder by Amanda Smith The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity by Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, MD 🌱 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. If you’d like more support in your journey toward BPD recovery, Steff offers 1:1 sessions using evidence-based tools from DBT, Schema Therapy, and Mindfulness to help you heal. Email for a free 30-Minute Consultation: 📩 steff@bpdsupport.org or check out the website: www.bpdsupport.org

3. 

   12 Sept 2026

   Why You Keep Spending When You Know You Shouldn’t | BPD & Impulsive Spending

   Why can spending money feel like emotional relief when you have BPD? You feel empty, lonely, rejected, angry or overwhelmed. Then you see something you want. And that little voice says, "Buy it!" In this episode, I explore the complicated relationship between BPD, impulsive spending, emotional regulation and shame. I look at why spending can become a way of escaping emotional pain, filling chronic emptiness, extending a good mood or even trying to buy a different version of yourself. This episode is about understanding why the spending happens and what we can actually do about it. 🌱 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 meditations made for emotional regulation, BPD, and more? Check out  Empowered Heroes Meditations  on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify. If you’d like more support in your journey toward BPD recovery, Steff offers 1:1 sessions using evidence-based tools from DBT, Schema Therapy, and Mindfulness to help you heal. Email for a free 30-Minute Consultation: 📩 steff@bpdsupport.org or check out the website: www.bpdsupport.org Free financial support resources: UK: StepChange Debt Charity - https://www.stepchange.org (https://www.stepchange.org/) | National Debtline - nationaldebtline.org (https://nationaldebtline.org/) Ireland: MABS (Money Advice and Budgeting Service) - mabs.ie (https://www.mabs.ie/en/) Australia: National Debt Helpline - ndh.org.au | 1800 007 007 US: National Foundation for Credit Counseling - nfcc.org (https://www.nfcc.org/) | CFPB- consumerfinance.gov 📚 Referenced Research Includes: American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787 Carpenter, R. W., & Trull, T. J. (2013). Components of emotion dysregulation in borderline personality disorder: A review. Current psychiatry reports, 15(1), 335. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-012-0335-2 Glenn, C. R., & Klonsky, E. D. (2009). Emotion dysregulation as a core feature of borderline personality disorder. Journal of personality disorders, 23(1), 20-28. https://doi.org/10.1521/pedi.2009.23.1.20 (https://doi.org/10.1521/pedi.2009.23.1.20) Kujovic, M., Bahr, C., Riesbeck, M., Benz, D., Deiß, M., Margittai, Z., ... & Meisenzahl, E. (2025). Effects on impulsivity and delay discounting of intermittent theta burst stimulation add-on to dialectical behavioral therapy in borderline personality disorder: a randomized, sham-controlled pilot trial. Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation, 12(1), 2. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40479-025-00278-3 (https://doi.org/10.1186/s40479-025-00278-3) Lieberman, M., Eisenberger, N. I., & Crockett, M. J. (2007). Putting feelings into words: affect labeling disrupts amygdala activity in response to affective stimuli. PsycholSci18 (5): 421–428. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01916.x (https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01916.x) Ott, C. A., Voce, A., Grinband, J., Lopez-Castro, T., Fertuck, E. A., Stanley, D. A., & Lempert, K. M. (2025). The borderline personality disorder feature of identity instability predicts temporal discounting in a community sample: An exploratory study. Personality Science, 6, 27000710251374485. https://doi.org/10.1177/27000710251374485 (https://doi.org/10.1177/27000710251374485) Sansone, R. A., & Wiederman, M. W. (2012). Spending too much: Relationships with borderline personality symptomatology. International journal of psychiatry in clinical practice, 16(4), 316-318. https://doi.org/10.3109/13651501.2012.693186 (https://doi.org/10.3109/13651501.2012.693186) Starcevic, V., & Khazaal, Y. (2017). Relationships between behavioural addictions and psychiatric disorders: What is known and what is yet to be learned?. Frontiers in psychiatry, 8, 53. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2017.00053 (https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2017.00053) Zac, A., Huang, Y. C., Von Moltke, A., Decker, C., & Ezrachi, A. (2025). Dark patterns and consumer vulnerability. Behavioural Public Policy, 1-50. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/bpp.2024.49 (https://doi.org/10.1017/bpp.2024.49)

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.3 / 5

3 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

20 ratings

Contact BPD Diaries: Stories and Science

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.