My name is Carley. I’m very excited to be part of the International Bipolar Foundation blogging team. First, let me tell you a little bit about myself and my story.

I’ve had a Rather Difficult Life, but I’ve Come Out the Other End Happy.

I was born in Fortune, Newfoundland. I now live in Barrie, Ontario. I was Social Phobic, right from kindergarten. Back then they didn’t have this label and they certainly didn’t know it was a disorder that needs attention and treatment. I saw it as rejection. I never asked questions in school, and usually cried if the teacher asked me one. Fear, anxiety, and feeling of not belonging has always been a big issue with me.

I was a sick child, and spent a lot of time in the hospital. I never thought of it as abnormal. It was just life to me.

I have a rather normal family (whatever that means), and a large extended family. I have two younger brothers; and my parents are still alive and married after almost 50 years. We lived in the country growing up, and I was a tomboy. I loved my dolls and such things in my room, but outside, I was riding my bicycle and building a tree-house with the boys.

I always felt that I was I was an outcast from the outcasts. I went into my first big depression in the 5th grade, but I told no one. From that point on I had a difficult time making and keeping friends. I was molested as a teenager for 3 years. My first boyfriend died when I was 16. He had Cystic Fibrosis.

I’ve had a lot of abuse from men in my life; mentally, emotionally, physically, and financially. I am a survivor and proud of it!

I was married and divorced. In 1992 I was involved in a 6 car pileup on an icy highway. I spent the next 2 and a half years recovering.