When one is undergoing mental health treatment, it often feels as if no one cares. It is rare that one will receive a greeting card or flowers, nor a covered dish when arriving home from the hospital. In my experience, most are standoffish. Recently, I was diagnosed with cancer. When the “C” word is spoken, everyone reacts....
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How to Start Seeing a Therapist
July 12, 2019
By: Cassandra Stout
Seeing a therapist can be enormously helpful in sorting out issues you may have in your life. You can also develop coping skills in therapy to deal with serious problems, or just the less-serious issues of everyday life.But how do you start searching for a therapist? Read on to find the solution.Facts to Keep in Mind During Your SearchThere are...
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Supporting a Friend in a Bipolar Depressive Episode
July 5, 2019
By: Allan G. Cooper
When I am experiencing a Depressive Episode it feels like I am walking in a dark haze of sadness and fatigue. My limbs feel like they are twice as heavy and it takes a tremendous amount of will power to complete the simplest of tasks.Social situations are a challenge because my anxiety is high and my concentration is poor. Normally, I enjoy...
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By: Sasha Kildare
*The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the speaker, and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of International Bipolar Foundation*Although there is still a long way to go, research has revealed many of the brain’s secrets when it comes to mental illness aka mental health conditions aka...
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By: Cassandra Stout
Trigger warning: This post contains a brief mention of suicide. If you or someone you know is at risk of suicide, please call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, text TALK to 741741 or refer to our list of International Suicide Hotlines.This past May was self-discovery month. One of the most crucial ways to encourage...
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Where Are The Hidden Words?
June 11, 2019
By: Sarah Fader
I wrote a book with hidden words. You can read them, but I’ve been hiding how I feel from many people. It’s a book about level 37, cheese and donuts. I know that doesn’t make sense to you right now. These are words that I wish I could say to people I love or loved. They’re poems that represent how I feel as a woman living with Bipolar Disorder. My...
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My Childhood with Bipolar Disorder
June 10, 2019
By: Natalia Beiser
My mother knew at an early age that I suffered from depression. What she did not know was what to do about it. My remembrance of the 1970’s is that no one discussed mental health unless an acquaintance went to the state hospital. Then it was discussed in very dark, quiet hushes. There was a world of difference in the stigma...
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By: Sophie Prosolek
Self-discovery is an important part of learning to be an individual, but in my opinion it’s all the more important when that individual has Bipolar disorder.Bipolar, in its many guises, can be a really two-faced friend; it occasionally allows you to feel an incredible sense of self, and then rips it all away in the blink of an eye, leaving you...
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Hyde & Hyde.... no Jekkyll
May 24, 2019
By: Laura Sanscartier
From the time I was a little girl, I have always had horrible thoughts. Thoughts of hurting people, thoughts of people dying. Thoughts of car crashes and horrible accidents around the house. I always thought that I was just a strange person, and that having these thoughts was a part of my broken brain. Fast forward to 2018, and it was finally made...
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Managing Postpartum Depression
May 23, 2019
By: Liz Wilson
My children were born 6 years apart. My son and daughter are two very different children with two very different mothers; who happened to be in the same body. That is largely because of my changing attitude toward education and self-advocacy. Thomas was barely a week old when the postpartum depression turned psychotic in proportions.“...
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