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⚠️ Content Warning: This episode includes discussion of childhood sexual abuse, suicide, and drug use.

Some stories don't start with a dream. They start with survival. Dene Dubois grew up as the primary caregiver for a mother with severe bipolar disorder, with a home life shaped by addiction, instability, and the kind of public chaos a child can't hide from. That early reality didn't just steal pieces of his childhood — it built the fierce instinct Dene carries today to protect other people who feel unseen.

We talk honestly about the long road from leaving school at 14 to compulsive gambling, jail, and trying to understand his own identity as a gay man. Dene shares how the search for belonging took him from Sydney's Oxford Street scene to Canada and beyond, and how trauma, hearing loss, and fractured memory can make connection feel slippery. When a discrimination case left him feeling shut out, he stopped waiting for permission to be heard and started building something better.

Dene breaks down what borderline personality disorder (BPD) feels like from the inside: intense emotion, fast reactions, and the exhausting aftermath of guilt and shame. We also dig into stigma, why "accountability" can be a loaded word in mental health care, and why lived experience can be the most practical guide for families, friends, and clinicians. He shares his thoughts on emerging treatments like MDMA trials, psychedelic-assisted therapy, and TMS, plus what's helped him most.

The conversation leads to BPD Raw, Dene's lived experience project inspired by The Strangers Project, where people can submit unfiltered letters — including letters of hope, despair, and even suicide — without getting attacked or told they need to be fixed.

If you've ever felt "too much," misunderstood, or labeled, this one is for you.

If you or someone you know is struggling: the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24/7 by call or text (988). You are not alone.

Subscribe, share this with someone who needs it, and leave a review with the one line you wish the world understood about mental health.

Connect with Dene Dubois:
Website: https://bpdraw.com/
Facebook: Borderline Personality Disorder: BPD Raw Support & Discussion https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61588888665317
Instagram: @denedub https://www.instagram.com/denedub/
Books:

1st Book:
The Places I Didn't Belong: A Memoir of Identity, Mental Health, and Finding Meaning Across Australia, Canada and New Zealand (The Belonging Series)
https://a.co/d/05ml98Ul

2nd Book:
Maybe I Did Belong: A Memoir of Learning That Every Journey Has a Reason (The Belonging Series Book 2)
https://a.co/d/09Lf6tAS

📖 NEW BOOK: Against All Odds: The Less Than 1% Chance
I wasn't supposed to survive. As the surviving twin with less than a 1% chance at life, I've spent my whole existence beating odds nobody expected me to beat. In this memoir and anthology, I share my story alongside eight other unbelievable accounts of people who refused to let impossible circumstances write their ending, from cancer and addiction to childhood trauma and grief. Eleven stories. One roadmap for anyone who's ever been told "you can't."
Get your copy here: https://books.by/love-your-life

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