Disclaimer: Any information provided in this blog is based on my own personal experiences and opinions. No information I provide should ever replace the opinions and advice of a professional. I am not a doctor, psychiatrist or affiliated with any Mental Health Organization. I ask you to please consult with your own physician before you decide to use my opinions or information for your own personal use. 

If you or someone you care about is in crisis or thinking about suicide, I can not urge you enough to stop reading right now and call 911 or your local crisis hotline. Remember, suicide, is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. There is no going back! Please, make that call! 

I am a 36-year-old mom to 7 wonderful children. Hubs and I have been together since high school. Most of those years I went un-diagnosed and un-medicated, or wrongly medicated. Through it all, my husband and my children have stood by my side. Without them, I would not have come as far as I have. Although, I have only been newly diagnosed, about to hit my 3 year mark, I have always been Bipolar, I just didn’t know it, even if everyone around me knew.

I have come to realize that I was a Bipolar Mom before I was ever diagnosed as having Bipolar Disorder. Having that knowledge has allowed me to step outside of my diagnoses and realize that nothing has changed except I now have a label, I am being treated for that label and I have choices. I can either let my diagnosis consume me and control every aspect of mine and my families lives, or I can choose to learn how to manage my Mental Illness and try my hardest to remain well for my family. I have decided to choose the latter of those two. There is always a reason to keep fighting no matter how small that reason may seem at the time.

My hope through writing this blog is to help others’ out there, like myself, who struggle daily with parenting while having a Mental Illness. My blog is not just limited to being a Bipolar parent, even though that is what my primary diagnosis is. I want my audience to know, that there are so many different elements to Mental Illness and all support and encouragement for whatever Mental Illness you may suffer from you can find here with in this blog. Many of us suffer from debilitating depression, OCD, Autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, Schizophrenia, Schizoaffective Disorder, Anxiety Disorders and countless others that I’m sure I have forgotten. I want my blog to be a place where other parents’ can come and share their struggles, their triumphs, their fears. Where others’ can reach out for support and that support be there for them.

I also know how difficult it can be to be a parent with an Mental Illness raising a child with a Mental Illness. I would like other parents’ who are going through the same thing to feel welcome here as well. Raising children is hard enough. Raising children while having a Mental Illness is even harder and raising a child while having a Mental Illness who has a Mental Illness is an extrordinary effort. 

Ultimately, I would like for us to be able to advocate for one another. To band together in an effort to get the outside support that we need from our families, our friends and the community we live in. Mental health issues are widely unrecognized and many communities lack funds that are so desperately needed to help those of us in need.

Those of us that scream the loudest are the ones that get the most attention. Although I understand that dealing with a serious mental health issue and shouting it to the world can be scary and even humiliating, but without it, our advocacy  will go un-noticed. We will get no where if we hide behind the rock of shame that society has put in front of us.

I hope you will follow along on my journey. I envision a time when others’ like myself are willing to come forth and tell their own stories. Where my blog can be a safe haven for those who would like to start their own blogs and blog along with me.

Whether you are just starting out on your own journey or have been trudging along for years, I invite you to join me here.

Until next time….
Becca