"I felt a weird sense of relief because, for a long time, I was like, 'Am I crazy?'" — Madison Beer on receiving her BPD diagnosis

Madison Beer has spent over a decade publicly searching for herself. The journey from 13-year-old posting YouTube covers to Grammy-nominated artist releasing her fourth album isn't just a success story. It's what happens when a Type 4 Individualist navigates fame, trauma, and the relentless need to be understood.

What drives someone to write a memoir at 24? To record albums while battling suicidal thoughts? To keep creating after the industry dropped her for being "too authentic"?

Understanding Madison means understanding her core personality.

TL;DR: Why Madison Beer is an Enneagram Type 4
  • The Search for Self: Madison's entire career reflects the Type 4's core drive: from her album titled "Silence Between Songs" (about finding herself in quiet moments) to writing a memoir exploring her identity at 24.
  • Emotional Depth as Art: Her music isn't surface-level pop. Each album processes genuine trauma: suicidal thoughts during "Life Support," self-discovery during "Silence Between Songs."
  • Feeling Fundamentally Different: The classic Type 4 wound. She was dropped at 16 for being "too sexy," faced endless plastic surgery accusations, and struggles with feeling misunderstood, asking "Am I crazy?" before her BPD diagnosis.
  • Transformation Through Suffering: Type 4s find meaning in pain. Madison channels her mental health struggles, abusive relationships, and industry betrayal into deeply personal art.
  • Authenticity Over Success: She resisted industry pressure to conform, choosing genuine self-expression even when it cost her everything at 14.

What is Madison Beer's Personality Type?

Madison Beer is an Enneagram Type 4 (The Individualist)

Enneagram Type 4s, "The Individualists," are driven by a deep need to understand themselves, express their authentic identity, and find meaning in emotional experiences. They fear being insignificant or without a unique identity. They process life through an intensely personal lens.

Madison embodies this:

  • Her album title says it all. "Silence Between Songs" literally describes the Type 4's introspective nature. She explained that her greatest growth happens "when the noise is turned off" and she can "tune out the noise and be alone, really reflect."

  • She wrote a memoir at 24 called The Half of It, processing her identity through the act of storytelling. Type 4s are compelled to make sense of themselves through creative expression.

  • Her BPD diagnosis brought relief, not shame. When she was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder in 2019, her reaction was quintessentially Type 4: "I felt a weird sense of relief because, for a long time, I was like, 'Am I crazy?'" Understanding her inner world mattered more than the stigma.

  • She chooses authenticity over commercial success. Despite pressure to conform, Madison has consistently prioritized genuine self-expression, even when it meant being dropped by her label, manager, and lawyer all in the same day.

The Wing Question: 4w3 or 4w5?

Type 4s have two possible "wings" that flavor their core personality. Madison shows strong evidence of being a 4w3, the "Aristocrat."

4w3s blend the Individualist's emotional depth with the Achiever's drive for success. Unlike the more withdrawn 4w5 (who retreats into intellectual pursuits), 4w3s want their uniqueness seen and recognized. They're ambitious about their artistry.

This fits Madison:

  • She actively pursues commercial success while maintaining artistic integrity
  • She cares about image and presentation (the aesthetics, the visuals, the brand)
  • She's competitive, openly discussing chart positions and Grammy nominations
  • She channels her emotions into products (albums, tours, merch) rather than just private expression

A 4w5 Madison might have retreated entirely after being dropped at 16 and disappeared into songwriting without caring if anyone heard it. Instead, she rebuilt her public presence, fought for visibility, and turned her pain into a Grammy-nominated career.

The 3 wing doesn't diminish her authenticity. It just means she wants to be authentically successful, not just authentically suffering.

Madison Beer's Upbringing: The Roots of an Individualist

Madison Elle Beer was born on March 5, 1999, in Jericho, Long Island, New York, to a Jewish family. Her father, Robert Beer, is a Moroccan Jewish real estate developer whose family built thousands of homes across Long Island. Her mother, Tracie, an Ashkenazi Jewish interior designer, would later become Madison's manager after the industry abandoned her.

The first wound came at seven. Her parents divorced in 2006, splitting the household that included Madison and her younger brother Ryder (now also a singer and producer). For a Type 4 child, already intensely attuned to emotional undercurrents, this early experience of a family fracturing likely deepened her sensitivity and her sense of being somehow different.

Madison showed artistic inclinations from the start. She won a modeling competition at four and appeared on the cover of Child magazine. But music was her true calling. She taught herself piano, drums, and guitar from books and internet tutorials, driven by an internal passion rather than external instruction.

She was homeschooled for several years before attending Jericho Middle School, where she celebrated her bat mitzvah in 2012. That same year, at just 13, she began posting cover songs to YouTube, including a fateful rendition of Etta James's "At Last" that would change everything.

Rise to Fame: The Bieber Tweet and What Followed

In 2012, Justin Bieber tweeted a link to Madison's "At Last" cover to his millions of followers. Overnight, she went from a middle schooler with a YouTube channel to a trending topic worldwide.

Bieber's manager, Scooter Braun, signed her before her 14th birthday. It seemed like a fairy tale.

Then came the fall.

At 16, Madison's manager, lawyer, and record label dropped her, all on the same day. The reason? According to her 2024 interviews with Cosmopolitan and Rolling Stone, she was deemed "too sexy."

"Literally the same day my manager dropped me, my lawyer dropped me, and my label dropped me. Everything in my life went away within 12 hours," she revealed. "I felt like I was a dollar sign to them and when I didn't bring in enough money, they didn't care about me anymore."

For a Type 4, this was devastating on multiple levels. Not just the professional loss, but the deeper wound: being rejected for being herself. The industry told her she was too much, too provocative, too something. That message lands differently for someone whose core fear is being without significance or unique identity.

Her mother Tracie stepped in as manager. Madison spent the next several years rebuilding as an independent artist.

The Wilderness Years: 2016-2020

This period is often glossed over, but it's psychologically crucial.

From 16 to 21, Madison existed in industry limbo. No major label. No powerful manager. No clear path forward. Just a teenager with a YouTube following, releasing independent singles and hoping someone would notice.

For a Type 4, this could have been devastating. Or liberating.

It was both.

The devastation: she felt abandoned, rejected for being herself. The people who were supposed to believe in her had decided she wasn't worth the trouble. That wound doesn't heal quickly.

The liberation: for the first time, no one was telling her what to do. No executives dictating her sound. No management shaping her image. She could figure out who she actually was as an artist.

Singles like "Dead" (2017) and "Say It to My Face" (2017) came from this period. Darker, more personal work than what the industry had wanted from her at 14. She was learning to trust her own voice.

When Life Support finally arrived in 2021, it wasn't the album a label would have manufactured. It was the album a young woman created while processing suicidal thoughts and learning to stay alive. That rawness came directly from four years of artistic freedom born from abandonment.

The wilderness made her.

Brother Ryder: The Sibling Dynamic

Madison isn't the only Beer sibling in music.

Her younger brother Ryder has followed her into the industry. He's a singer and producer who's collaborated with Madison and developed his own sound. For Type 4s, sibling relationships can be complicated. The Individualist's need to be unique sometimes clashes with having a family member in the same creative space.

But Madison has been publicly supportive, featuring Ryder in her content and speaking positively about his work. The dynamic suggests she's found a way to maintain her individual identity while sharing the creative world with her brother, a growth edge for Type 4s who can sometimes feel threatened by others occupying their emotional territory.

The Music: Processing Pain Through Art

Type 4s don't just make art. They become their art. Every creative work is an extension of their inner world.

Life Support (2021): Creating During Crisis

Madison's debut album Life Support was written during her darkest period. In her memoir The Half of It and numerous interviews, she's been candid about recording while battling suicidal thoughts.

"I couldn't do it anymore. I'm not in that dark place anymore," she later reflected.

The album dealt with themes of mental health, toxic relationships, and the struggle to stay alive. For Madison, creating during crisis wasn't a choice. It was survival. Type 4s often channel their most intense suffering into art because it's the only way to externalize overwhelming internal experiences.

Silence Between Songs (2023): Finding Self in the Quiet

Her sophomore album represented a profound shift. The title itself captures the Type 4's introspective journey:

"I got started really young doing this, and I feel like I've had a very busy 12 years or so in the industry and I kind of convinced myself that the moments where I was making music and when I was on tour and when I was my busiest was when I was growing. As I've gotten a little bit older, I realized it's actually been the moments that I've been able to tune out the noise and I've been able to be alone, really reflect and be more isolated where I've grown the most. So, it's the silence between songs and when the noise is turned off is when I feel like I've learned who I am the most."

The album explores themes of lost youth, the gap between fame and reality, and self-love. Musically, it draws from her idols like Lana Del Rey, Tame Impala, and The Beach Boys, blending pop with psychedelic rock and dream pop elements.

Silence Between Songs earned a Grammy nomination for Best Immersive Audio Album, validating her artistic evolution.

Locket (2026): The Next Chapter

Madison's fourth album releases January 16, 2026. She revealed she conceived the album title before writing any songs, a very Type 4 approach, starting with the emotional concept and building the art around it.

Singles "Make You Mine" (2024), "Yes Baby" (2025), and "Bittersweet" (2025) have built anticipation. "Make You Mine" earned her first Grammy nomination for Best Dance Pop Recording at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards.

The Half of It: A Memoir of Self-Discovery

In 2023, Madison published The Half of It, a 176-page memoir chronicling her decade in the spotlight. The book tackles:

  • Being blackmailed with leaked private photos
  • Suicidal thoughts during the Life Support era
  • Navigating therapy and BPD while famous
  • The abusive relationship that left her traumatized

What makes the memoir distinctly Type 4 is its purpose: not just to share her story, but to understand it. She wrote about her songs' inspiration: "There are songs on the album that definitely were inspired to be written during the time of writing the book... getting that deeply into some really serious things that I've been through, and just facing certain facts that maybe I'd been running from prior, it made me want to write about them."

The book includes journal prompts and "Dear Madison" sections, inviting readers into her process of self-discovery.

Controversies and Challenges: The Type 4 Under Fire

The "Industry Plant" Accusation

It follows her everywhere: the claim that Madison Beer isn't really self-made. That Justin Bieber's tweet made her. That Scooter Braun handed her a career. That she's manufactured, not authentic.

For any artist, this stings. For a Type 4 whose entire identity is built on being genuine and unique, it's existential.

Here's what makes the accusation complicated: there's a kernel of truth, and Madison knows it. She was discovered through a celebrity tweet. She was signed by one of the industry's biggest managers before she turned 14. Those are facts.

But what the "industry plant" narrative ignores is what happened next.

She was dropped. Completely. At 16, the same industry that supposedly "planted" her abandoned her: manager, lawyer, and label in one day. If she was a plant, she was uprooted.

The years from 2016 to 2020 weren't spent being groomed by executives. They were spent as an independent artist, releasing singles through her mom's management, rebuilding an audience one fan at a time. No label support. No Scooter Braun machine.

Madison's response to the accusation is quintessentially Type 4: she doesn't deny the advantages she had, but she insists on the authenticity of what she's created since. The music is hers. The struggle was real. The comeback was earned.

The "industry plant" label hurts precisely because it denies her the one thing Type 4s need most: recognition of their genuine, unique self.

The Lolita Controversy (2020)

Madison faced significant backlash after naming Nabokov's Lolita as a favorite book on Instagram Live. Critics accused her of romanticizing the relationship between a predator and a 12-year-old girl.

She later apologized, saying she was "too flippant" and needed to "read it through a new lens." For a Type 4, being misunderstood, especially about something intellectual and personal, would have been particularly painful.

Plastic Surgery Accusations

Madison has faced relentless speculation about cosmetic procedures. In a tearful response, she said: "This would break anyone...I'm hurting." She clarified that one appointment was "a consultation to get a mole removed."

The accusation that she's inauthentic, that she's constructed a fake appearance, strikes at the heart of the Type 4's deepest value: genuine self-expression.

The Gaza Conflict (2024)

During the Israel-Gaza conflict, Madison (who is Jewish) faced criticism for her silence and accusations of endorsing Israeli actions. She revealed she had received "threats of contract termination and expulsion" if she spoke out.

Being silenced, unable to express her true feelings on a complex issue touching her identity—this would deeply conflict with the Type 4's need for authentic expression.

The Jack Gilinsky Relationship

Madison's relationship with Vine star Jack Gilinsky ended after a leaked recording revealed him verbally abusing her. Rather than hiding this trauma, she's discussed it openly, warning others: "Don't make the same mistakes I did."

Mental Health: The Inner World of a Type 4

Madison's openness about her mental health provides a window into the Type 4's internal experience. Like fellow Type 4 Billie Eilish, she's become part of a generation of young artists willing to discuss mental health publicly, but Madison's disclosures go particularly deep.

The Diagnoses

In August 2019, she was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. She's also discussed PTSD and "pretty gnarly OCD." Rather than treating these as shameful secrets, she views them as keys to self-understanding:

"When you go through traumatic things that cause PTSD or BPD, or I've been diagnosed with pretty gnarly OCD, when you go through these really intense, difficult things, especially early in your life, you look at people and the world very differently."

Therapy as Transformation

Madison attends therapy three times per week. She describes the process:

"Once I was given a diagnosis, going through therapy three times a week, I was getting more in touch with my emotions and figuring out how to be stable. I was able to write better and understand myself better."

She's learned to set boundaries, a growth edge for Type 4s who can become overwhelmed by their emotional intensity: "I set a lot of boundaries with myself now. I'm very self-aware if I'm in a comment rabbit hole... That's been a thing with my therapist, going over setting boundaries in my everyday life."

Fame's Impact

Madison has reflected on how celebrity distorted her self-perception:

"I don't think our brains were wired for us to be famous and have a million photographers taking pictures of you at every angle, especially when you're a growing person. It's unfortunately impacted my mental health and my self-view."

In a 2024 Teen Vogue interview, she admitted her "natural kindness was replaced with resentment toward the industry and public scrutiny." This hardening is a common Type 4 defensive pattern when they feel chronically misunderstood.

Personal Life: The Ongoing Search

As of 2025, Madison is dating NFL quarterback Justin Herbert. Her Spinnin Tour in 2024 sold out venues worldwide, and she continues building a global fanbase.

What's notable is how she connects with fans. By sharing her struggles authentically, she creates space for mutual understanding—something Type 4s deeply crave. Her fans don't just admire her music; they feel seen by her vulnerability.

The Type 4 Pattern: Connecting Madison's Life

Looking at Madison's life through the Enneagram Type 4 lens reveals a consistent pattern:

Core Fear (Being Insignificant/Without Identity):

  • Dropped for being "too sexy," rejected for her identity
  • Plastic surgery accusations, identity questioned
  • Forced silence during Gaza conflict, expression of identity suppressed

Core Desire (To Find Significance and Authentic Self):

  • Writing a memoir at 24 to understand herself
  • Album titled "Silence Between Songs," growth in introspection
  • Embracing BPD diagnosis as self-knowledge

Transformation Through Art:

  • Life Support during suicidal period
  • Silence Between Songs for self-discovery
  • Each album marks a psychological transformation

Integration Toward Health:

  • Regular therapy (3x weekly)
  • Setting boundaries
  • Moving from resentment to genuine expression

Reflections on Madison Beer's Individualist Spirit

Madison's story is about the courage to keep seeking yourself when the world keeps trying to define you otherwise. Discovered at 13, dropped at 16, she's spent every year since fighting to create art on her own terms.

For fellow Type 4s, her journey offers both recognition and hope. Feeling fundamentally different, the relief of finally understanding yourself, the compulsion to transform pain into art: these are shared Individualist experiences.

The lesson? Authenticity isn't a destination. It's a process. The "silence between songs" isn't empty. It's where the real work happens. Sometimes the people who seem to have it figured out are still, quietly, figuring themselves out.

If Madison's story resonates with your own search for identity, explore what makes you uniquely you. Visit our questions and begin your own journey.

Disclaimer: This analysis is based on publicly available information and aims to explore Madison Beer's personality from an Enneagram perspective. It's not a definitive assessment but an invitation to reflect and engage.