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5 Things I Wish Someone Would Have Told Me When I Was Diagnosed
September 1, 2017
By: Danielle Workman
I’ve said it in many other posts and even in my book, but the day I received my diagnosis and was told I had Bipolar Disorder, I truly felt alone. The days that followed, the feeling remained. The more I searched online and the more I dug, the worse I felt. I longed for someone to tell me that things were going to be okay. That life wasn’t over....
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Finding Solace in Art Therapy
September 1, 2017
By: Emily McGuigan
“If I could say it in words there would be no reason to paint.” ~ Edward HopperAs an artist with Generalized Anxiety Disorder(GAD) and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), I have primarily used drawing and painting to help me cope with and explain traumatic or stressful events in my life, but also to discover who I am as a person. Art allows me to...
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New to Dual Diagnosis? – Five Critical Life Hacks
August 25, 2017
By: Conor Bezane
There are 5.7 million bipolar people in the US, and 60 percent of them are addicts, according to the Epidemiologic Catchment Area study. Co-occurring addiction is more common in bipolar people than in any other psychiatric group. We drink and use drugs to stabilize our moods or to replicate the feelings of mania. I was diagnosed bipolar...
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Parenting With Mental Illness: Part 1
August 21, 2017
By: Michelle Vasiliu
In 2015, my first picture book, My Happy Sad Mummy, was published.My Happy Sad Mummy is a Picture Book for 3-8 year olds. It is a story that portrays the emotional response of a young girl living with a mother who has bipolar disorder.The book allows families the opportunity to engage in conversations about this illness in a sensitive and age...
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Finding Strength In My Story
August 18, 2017
By: Danielle Workman
The day I received my diagnosis for Bipolar Disorder, I felt so alone. I remember it vividly, because it was so incredibly painful. I didn’t know anyone with Bipolar Disorder I could talk to about it. The people I knew that had anxiety and depression were so trapped in their own issues, I didn’t want to burden them with mine.Driving home in the...
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My Thoughts on Stigma and Having a Bipolar Diagnosis
August 14, 2017
By: Serena Goldsmith
As a peer counselor, speaker, and mental health clinician, many people have shared with me that they feel stigmatized by having a mental health diagnosis and they feel reluctant to tell others about it. I felt that way too for many years after I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. When I was diagnosed 25 years ago, I didn’t know very much...
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My Journey With DBT: Part 3
August 7, 2017
By: Allison Strong
I’m in a year-long Dialectical Behavioral Therapy program. Many people repeat the course. More than once! They say in their first year they felt more like passengers than patients because there’s so much material to cover. I agree. Now that we’re at the end of the semester, there’s so much transformative information that I’m having...
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My Journey With DBT: Part 2
August 4, 2017
By: Allison Strong
When I first did intake for group dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), I sorta ‘flunked.’Temporarily.It was determined that I’d been traumatized and I was transferred to their Trauma Resolution and Integration Program (T.R.I.P.) for individual work. I accepted their professional opinion. My mood state with regards to Bipolar Disorder...
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Guys: 5 Reasons Why We Are Selling Ourselves Short
July 28, 2017
By special guest: Chris Worfolk of Worfolk Anxiety Management
Special guest, Chris Worfolk from Worfolk Anxiety Management, shares 5 suggestions for overcoming mental health stigma and taking care of mental health.For more information and resources on bipolar disorder, visit www.ibpf.orgFor more information on Chris Worfolk and his work at Worfolk Anxiety Management, visit:https://www.worfolkanxiety.com/
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Redefining Success
July 24, 2017
By: Megan Malfi
Check out Redefining Success Part 2, here!For more vlogs from Megan Malfi, check out the playlist here.
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My Journey With DBT: Part 1
July 21, 2017
By: Allison Strong
A year ago, I wrote about Zen, Mindfulness and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT).DBT is an update on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy—both written by Marsha M Linehan, Ph D. Originally, DBT was strictly for the treatment of borderline personality disorder, a condition for which there is no medicine. Today it’s applied much more...
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