I'm asking because I've been diagnosed with BPD briefly in the past, and now it's bipolar--but the phrase "unstable sense of self" sounds like one of the big problems in my life, and I'm not finding that mentioned in bipolar descriptions or on the bipolar forum.

What's it like for you, specifically?

For me, for example, sometimes I really like to be with people and join a lot of groups and make a lot of friends, then after a few months I realize that I don't like people and I've made a big mistake so I disappear from the groups and hope people don't call me... and I enjoy the solitude and freedom to do what I want when I want... and then when I've been mostly alone for a few months (or weeks) I realize that I've made a mistake and I can't be happy without people in my life and it all repeats. This has happened many times in my life. This time I've been a people person for over 6 months but I dread the old "Oh no, I've made that mistake again."

This applies to everything from religion to what I do with my hair. I don't do this for fun; I hate it. I don't know what kind of person I am.

So will you share with me your experiences of the sense of self disturbance from BPD?