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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Accepting My Diagnosis
May 20, 2019
By: Sydney Batt
I felt slightly relieved the day I was diagnosed with having bipolar disorder-- it felt good to have an explanation for my actions, however the days to come were very difficult.I was very emotional the first couple months after my diagnosis--any time someone asked me how I was feeling I broke down crying, regardless of the person. I had been...
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Is It My Bipolar… Or Just Being a Jerk?
May 17, 2019
By: Paul Carey
(The short story of a bipolar professional and a personal jerk)Sometimes the line between bipolar and jerk isn’t as transparent as I’d like it to be. To be clear, they are not one in the same. Bipolar is a non-optional mental illness. Being a jerk is a choice. Although, in my younger days, no matter how big of a jerk I was in any given moment, I...
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My Catch-22 with Medication
May 14, 2019
By: Natalia Beiser
Most days I feel grateful and blessed. I have a good life. I have friends and people that love me. I am employed part time, even with chronic mental illness. I have a home, and even two great cats. My car is almost paid off. I have much of the American dream. However, other times, I feel that my life is some kind of...
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Ward 19 North
May 8, 2019
By: Sasha Kildare
My biggest claim to fame is that I had the same dance teacher as JLo.Actually, I have an even bigger claim to fame. But it is not something that you brag about.At the age of 26, I was on my sixth college major, journalism. Summer vacation arrived. Finally, I only needed one more semester to graduate from Cal State Long Beach.I didn’t know I had...
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By: Cassandra Stout
As a parent with bipolar disorder, you might worry about the effects of your unchecked mental illness on your loved ones, especially your children. The devastating mood swings of bipolar disorder can cause instability for your kids. One example, a 2014 study, showed teenaged children of parents with bipolar disorder are more susceptible to risky...
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