Something I Am Proud Of: I am proud of the parent I’ve become. Through my son’s infancy and toddlerhood, I suffered from debilitating bipolar and postpartum depression. I am sad to say that I neglected him, to the point where I rarely brushed his teeth (or...
Freelance writer Cassandra Stout blogs at the award-winning Bipolar Parent, a comprehensive resource for parents with mental illnesses. Cassandra holds degrees from the University of Arizona in Creative Writing and Journalism. A U.S. resident, she has been a judge for...
How to Make a Dopamenu to Give Your Brain the Stimulation it Needs Have you ever found yourself doom scrolling the internet, desperately seeking stimulation for your depressed brain but being too tired to think of a healthy way to do that? When we’re depressed, our...
Author: Sam Bowman Getting diagnosed with bipolar disorder as an older adult can be challenging. Stigmas and misconceptions about the condition may be discouraging and lead to feelings of embarrassment or unease. However, bipolar disorder affects millions of...
By: Cassandra Stout There’s something about a fresh start that creates the desire to tweak your life. And a new year is a fresh start. Why not resolve to practice more self-care each month in the coming year? Here’s my 12-month calendar of self-care tips to try. Most...
By: Cassandra Stout As a social lubricant, alcohol takes top billing. But if you have a mental illness like bipolar disorder, alcohol and other substances tend to tank your mental health. I’m not going to lie: alcohol temporarily helps decrease the suffering that...
By: Cassandra Stout It seems everyone and their mother is traveling these days. And that includes those of us with mental illnesses. For those of us living with mental health conditions, especially bipolar disorder, breaking from our usual routine can have disastrous...
Author: Cassandra Stout Running out of meds is the worst. If you’re regularly taking medication and you run out of pills and stop suddenly, this is terrible for your body and your mind. If you’re bipolar, you may end up tripping into a mood episode that...
Author: Cassandra Stout Trigger Warning: This post contains a discussions 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 go to...
Author: Cassandra Stout When you’re depressed, forget about thriving – you’re in survival mode. Which means you need to be especially gentle with yourself. If you’re telling yourself that you should get everything done on your impossibly...
Author: Cassandra Stout If you have bipolar disorder, it’s likely you’ve experienced some symptoms of mania while you’ve suffered depression, or vice versa, and believe me: it’s miserable. This awful set of feelings is colloquially...
Author: Cassandra Stout I used to look at the new year, especially the month of January, with trepidation. When I was but a young college student dating my then-boyfriend–and now husband of several years–I had not yet been diagnosed with bipolar I...
Author: Cassandra Stout Trigger warning: This post discusses 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 go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for...
Author: Cassandra Stout Self-care. It seems self-explanatory; after all, the term indicates caring for the self. But why is self-care so hard to accomplish, especially for people who suffer from bipolar disorder? The answer is easy. When we’re manic or...
Author: Cassandra Stout After my postpartum psychotic breakdown in 2008 and my time spent in a mental hospital for it, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. That explained so much. When I returned home, I was elated. I was compelled to explain to everyone who had...
Author: Cassandra Stout Are you bipolar? There is a day on the calendar to celebrate your struggles with the disorder. World Bipolar Day (WBD) is celebrated each year on March 30th, in honor of Vincent Van Gogh’s birthday, as he was posthumously diagnosed as...
By: Cassandra Stout The holidays strike fear into many hearts, especially those of us with mental illness. But they don’t have to. People with mental health conditions, including bipolar disorder, can thrive during the holiday season. Don’t Neglect Basic...
By: Cassandra Stout In 2015, the Washington Post conducted the first ongoing tally of officer-involved shooting deaths of the mentally ill. Nationwide, at least 25% of people who are shot and killed by police officers suffer from acute mental illness at the time of...
By: Cassandra Stout Medication interactions are serious business. You could take two medications which counteract each other, which could make you sick enough to end up in the emergency room, or even die. October 21st is National Check Your Meds Day in the US. Making...
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...
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...
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...
You may not think of fall as a time of new beginnings, but if you have a child in school, the new school year is certainly that. Supporting your child at school is difficult enough but throw a mental illness into the mix and that becomes incalculably more difficult....
If you suffer from bipolar disorder, then you may already know how difficult managing romantic relationships can be. Even being a partner with a bipolar disorder sufferer is difficult. The manic and hypomanic phases of the disease can include lapses in judgment,...
