When it comes to the topic of male stigma, I have quite the extensive experience.Right now, I am a 39 year-old male.I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder right before my 21st birthday.The BeginningThe expectations how a man is supposed to act and react in certain situations is both raw and real.I use the word “supposed” because it is an old way of...
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When Other Health Issues Impact Your Mental Health (+5 Ways I Help Take Care of Myself)
June 8, 2018
By: Danielle Workman
Earlier this year I started to suffer from chronic, painful, daily migraines. The pain is constant and intense, taking away my drive to eat at all, removing my drive to exercise, and after days on end of constant and consistent migraines, I am reminded why they are commonly called “suicide headaches”.For me, I have found stability in my mental...
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My Love/Hate Relationship With Medication
June 6, 2018
By: Natalia Beiser
I have been on medications for bipolar disorder my entire adult life. The prescriptions and I have an avid love/hate relationship. I need medications to function with the most amount of mental clarity. I resent my medications and am treatment resistant. Medication has allowed me to live a fulfilling life. Psychiatric drugs...
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By: Courtney Davey, MA, MFT
We as humans are social creatures. Our relationships with family who raise us, partners who love us and friends who care for us influence our understanding of ourselves, others and the world. While family is assigned to us and partner(s) are one to a few people, our friend group can be ever-expanding and changing. Friends are chosen social...
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"Even Me?"
May 30, 2018
By: Kryss Jobes
It seems innocent enough on the surface, but let’s take a closer look. Imagine you’re going through a rough time. You feel that downward swing in motion and you are overwhelmed. You’re doing your best to take care of yourself and your responsibilities, but that leaves little energy for much else. Underneath it all, you just want to be left alone,...
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By: Geoff Crain
How Are The Two Related?According the the National Institute of Mental Health, bipolar disorder is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels and the ability to carry out day to day tasks.If you have bipolar disorder, the shifts in mood and energy levels may lead you to experiment with drugs and alcohol as a means...
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By: Conor Bezane
It was in rehab in 2012 that I decided to carry the flag for the mentally ill. I’d received my diagnosis of bipolar four years earlier and ended up in treatment because I was drinking two six-packs of beer or two bottles of wine — or more — every night. I was also smoking crack with homeless people a couple times a week and, for good measure,...
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By: Liz Wilson
A cursory look at the research demonstrates that there is still misinformation in the entertainment industry in regards to mental illness, too few role models who are public about their mental illness/es, and that measurable strides have been made by advocates and TV/Film personalities to change the old, stigmatized portrayals of people with...
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Solitary Confinement and Mental Illness
May 18, 2018
By: Carol R. Ray, Ph.D.
The jails and prison systems are the de facto mental health institution (Abramsky and Fellner, 2003). There is a prison within the prison, that those with mental health conditions, are subjected to. That is the practice of "solitary confinement". Solitary confinement is defined as, isolation from personal interaction with others, in addition...
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An Excerpt From Beautiful Bipolar
May 17, 2018
By: Danielle Workman
To the Beautiful, Bold, Bipolar;The culture of today is fast paced, moving at a breakneck speed. With the technological savviness of social media sitting in the forefront of most of our minds, our culture has come to not only know but expect perfection. Anything less than perfection is deemed unworthy; a curse.Photos are edited repeatedly until...
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