BPD Diaries: Stories and Science with Steff

BPD vs Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD)

BPD Diaries: Stories and Science with Steff

Show Notes

Are people with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) "antisocial"? In this episode, we dive deep into the complex, often misunderstood relationship between BPD and Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD). We go beyond the online stereotypes and fear-mongering to explore the science, the diagnostic lines, and the sobering overlaps. We break down the crucial differences and the emotional experience. We also tackle why these disorders are so frequently confused, the dangerous dynamics of BPD/ASPD relationships, and the painful reality of trauma bonding. This isn't about creating villains or victims. It's about compassion, critical thinking, and understanding the spectrum of human struggle. Whether you're challenging stigma, grappling with a difficult diagnosis, or simply seeking clarity, this episode provides the nuanced conversation this topic desperately needs. 🌱 Have questions, stories, or something you’d like us to cover? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected] ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 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 and Mindfulness to help you heal. Email for a free 30-Minute Consultation: 📩 [email protected] or check out the website: www.bpdsupport.org

📚 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 Buchheim, A., Roth, G., Schiepek, G., Pogarell, O., & Karch, S. (2013). Neurobiology of borderline personality disorder (BPD) and antisocial personality disorder (APD). Swiss Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry, 164(4), 115-122. Chow, R. T. S., Yu, R., Geddes, J. R., & Fazel, S. (2025). Personality disorders, violence and antisocial behaviour: updated systematic review and meta-regression analysis. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 227(1), 481–491. doi:10.1192/bjp.2024.226

Chun, S., Harris, A., Carrion, M., Rojas, E., Stark, S., Lejuez, C., Lechner, W. V., & Bornovalova, M. A. (2017). A psychometric investigation of gender differences and common processes across borderline and antisocial personality disorders. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 126(1), 76–88. Lieb, K., Zanarini, M. C., Schmahl, C., Linehan, M. M., & Bohus, M. (2004). Borderline personality disorder. The lancet, 364(9432), 453-461. Özel, B., Karakaya, E., Köksal, F. et al. Gender bias of antisocial and borderline personality disorders among psychiatrists. Arch Womens Ment Health 28, 563–571 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-024-01519-0 Raine, A. (2018). Antisocial personality as a neurodevelopmental disorder. Annual review of clinical psychology, 14(1), 259-289. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-050817-084819 Stoffers-Winterling, J. M., Storebø, O. J., Kongerslev, M. T., Faltinsen, E., Todorovac, A., Jørgensen, M. S., ... & Simonsen, E. (2022). Psychotherapies for borderline personality disorder: a focused systematic review and meta-analysis. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 221(3), 538-552. doi:10.1192/bjp.2021.204 https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2015/10/work-offndrs-persnlty-disorder-oct15.pdf https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/619e6dbb8fa8f5037e8ccb2c/6.5151_HMPPS_Working_with_Offenders_with_Personality_Disorder_accessible_version_.pdf https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/law/borderline-personality-disorder-and-crime#research-starter-title

More from BPD Diaries: Stories and Science with Steff

Oct 23, 2026

What do people with borderline personality disorder wish everyone else understood? I asked around, and here are the answers I got. In this short episode, we see that BPD is more than its symptoms. Behind the reactions are human beings trying to make sense of their experiences, build meaningful relationships, and find their way forward. Whether you live with BPD, love someone who does, or simply want to understand it better, this episode is for you.

Oct 9, 2026

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 [email protected] 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: 📩 [email protected] or check out the website: www.bpdsupport.org

Sep 25, 2026

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.

Sep 12, 2026

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.

Aug 21, 2026

What if the label everyone's afraid to give a teenager is the one thing that could save their future? Professor Joost Hutsebaut has spent a career working with young people on the edge of a diagnosis most clinicians won't touch: borderline personality disorder (BPD). In this episode, Joost explains why he wrote a paper called The Diagnosis That Should Speak Its Name, arguing it's ethically right to diagnose personality disorders in teens. We dig into where a "difficult personality" ends and a disorder begins, the real risks of stigma versus the risks of staying silent, and how his own philosophy - "make therapy simple again" - reshaped the way he practices. He also honestly answers some of the internet's most asked questions. Whether you're a clinician, a parent, or someone who's ever been told to "wait and see," this conversation reframes early diagnosis as an act of hope, not a life sentence.

See all episodes →