Monty

Monty

Something I am Proud Of: I’ve spent 6 months working on a new kind of peer support experience for people with bipolar. The unique capabilities of the Clubhouse technology is what makes this possible. More information is available at linktr.ee/bipolarsupportclub....
Being Bipolar & Learning to Live

Being Bipolar & Learning to Live

Author: Ben Davis I have Bipolar Type II. Receiving that diagnosis changed my mental health trajectory for the better. Although it’s a big part of who I am, it’s not all of who I am. I am more than my diagnosis, and so are you. While I recognize that my story is...
Ben

Ben

Something I am Proud of: Simply starting my mental health journey. Walking into a therapist’s office, admitting I was afraid of myself and had tried everything under the sun to calm that fear was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. The awareness of my diagnosis,...
Hold On

Hold On

Author: Sophia Falco   The light was unable to filter in between the small spaces of the yellow leaves belonging to a quaking aspen.   Instead, the light was stuck behind that dense tree canopy until one leaf fell slowly unleashing the freedom for a single...
Can Online Games Play a Positive Role in Bipolar Disorder?

Can Online Games Play a Positive Role in Bipolar Disorder?

Author: Stanley Clark Gaming gives people the opportunity to try something new. Engaging in such an activity lets individuals form alliances, complete quests, and make new friends. Playing video games is fun and exciting. But there’s a different kind of rush and...
Kelly

Kelly

Something I am Proud Of: I am proud that over the past 7 years (since I first began mental health treatment) I have consistently stayed in therapy and taken my meds, despite relapses, medication issues, and major life stressors. I am also proud that during each...
Dayna J.

Dayna J.

Something I am Proud of: When I was finally medically compliant two years after my initial diagnosis, the hospital psychiatrist told me I would never work again. She encouraged me to seek disability. Give up my professional aspirations. I fired her. Then I fought my...
Reflection

Reflection

Author: Aubrey Good I woke up this morning well before noon after going to bed well before midnight. I greeted my husband and baby, ate a well-balanced breakfast, and glanced at the headlines before shutting down the app and heading out the door for a run. As I ran,...
Honoring Her Illness

Honoring Her Illness

Author: Melinda Goedeke Destigmatize: to remove association from shame or disgrace  (according to Miriam Webster). I like destigmatizing; it feels honorable and worthwhile. And it is. I destigmatize all over the place often with tears streaming down my face as I...
Lithium and Dialysis, Part III

Lithium and Dialysis, Part III

Author: Natalia A. Beiser My need for dialysis started largely because of long term Lithium use.  I began taking Lithium in 1994 at the age of twenty two and have what is described as lithium induced nephropathy. This means that I have small cysts all over my...
Suicide Awareness Month

Suicide Awareness Month

September is Suicide Awareness Month “Pilar’s Corner” addresses a common question: How can I tell if my family member/friend is severely depressed or suicidal and what can I do? By recognizing signs and symptoms of depression and knowing factual information about...
Paris Prynkiewicz

Paris Prynkiewicz

Something I am Proud Of: A moment I am most proud of when it comes to managing my bipolar diagnosis is launching my podcast, “Master Your M.E.N.T.A.L” to share my story to inspire others on how to shatter the stigma, conquer obstacles and craft the life...
Unlike Lightning

Unlike Lightning

Author: Sophia Falco I once wrote, sorrow strikes as lightning, but really the bright flash is nonexistent, but really strikes is an understatement. Darkness has permeated into my world like a heavy cloak that I am unable to shake off. If only sorrow really did strike...
Writing to Release Feelings

Writing to Release Feelings

Author: Sasha Kildare My manic episodes arose out of severe depression and were mixed episodes—euphoria and boundless energy interspersed with despair. Although I found myself bursting with ideas, they never led to anything. Today, I’m still bursting with ideas, but I...
Lithium and Dialysis, Part II

Lithium and Dialysis, Part II

Author: Natalia Beiser Please note: These are the experiences of this writer and do not reflect the outcomes of every patient taking Lithium Carbonate. I have taken Lithium Carbonate since I was twenty two years old. I am now approaching my fiftieth birthday and have...
Living With Bipolar As a Person of Color

Living With Bipolar As a Person of Color

Author: Mariko Hewer Trigger warning: Brief discussion of suicide The past 18 months (and counting) have been remarkable by any standard — we’ve battled a worldwide pandemic, faced natural disasters dramatically heightened by climate change, and begun the hard yet...

Pilar’s Corner

Pilar Cárdenas-Gimber One of my favorite aspects of IBPF is how it unifies us as a global community, providing resources and shepherding us through the maze to wellness. “Pilar’s Corner” was conceived to be a specialized section of the website dedicated to moments or...
Questions to Consider When Establishing Care with Psychiatrist

Questions to Consider When Establishing Care with Psychiatrist

Author: Pilar Cárdenas-Gimber, LMFT Whether you are choosing a new psychiatrist or have already chosen one, there are a multitude of factors that come into play and your psychiatrist will be vitally important in your successful treatment. Psychiatrists are medical...
Multiplied By 20

Multiplied By 20

Author: Angela McCrimmon Someone stated something that startled me recently. It also left me in a state of reflection and eventually led me to a feeling of encouragement so it might surprise you when I share what their words of wisdom were to brighten up my day. They...
I Am More Than My Bipolar Disorder

I Am More Than My Bipolar Disorder

Author: Lesly Garcia I want to remind others that there are millions of us with bipolar disorder. I was diagnosed in 2019, at the age of 22 when I had my first episode. I think part of me knew a long time ago that I was bipolar. But I didn’t know what bipolar disorder...
Catalina Bellizzi

Catalina Bellizzi

Something I am Proud Of: I’m proud of myself for never giving up on ME, even in the hardest moments. I chose every day to fight my way towards the right treatment, med combo, & therapy modalities. There were some unbelievably dark days- especially since things got...
Sure, I’m Okay

Sure, I’m Okay

Author: Melinda Goedeke Recently, I went on an incredible rafting trip down the Colorado River in Moab, Utah. If I fell out of the raft, I was told to put my hand on my head signaling I was okay.  The guide said that okay meant I was alive.  I might be bleeding,...
Tradeoffs I Have Made in Bipolar Recovery

Tradeoffs I Have Made in Bipolar Recovery

Author: Violette Kay It has been two years since my last major episode, and although I will always push back against the notions that mania/depression/suffering in general magically makes people creative and that taking medication (or any other steps towards...
Work As a Life-affirming Meditation Practice

Work As a Life-affirming Meditation Practice

Author: George Hofmann Meditation can be a key practice toward coping with or avoiding episodes of mania and depression, but I’ve become increasingly troubled by proponents of mindfulness as therapy. From companies touting meditation as a means to help workers deal...
Grace Scarpello

Grace Scarpello

Something I am Proud Of: Something I am proud of in my journey with managing bipolar disorder would be staying. Choosing to stay despite many moments of struggle and trauma has been my greatest achievement. I decided many years ago that leaving early wasn’t an option...
Seasons and Cycles

Seasons and Cycles

Author: Maria Jacobs Hello, I’m Maria Eva Jacobs, and I have lived with Bipolar Disorder my entire adult life. The dark details of my struggle with bipolar mania include paranoia, suicidal ideation, subsequent inpatient treatment. That is all in my past. I am in...
Hypersexuality in Mood Disorders: You’re My Little Secret

Hypersexuality in Mood Disorders: You’re My Little Secret

Author: Ivory Smith Causey Janet* a first year college student has just found out that she is pregnant. She had inclination that she might be was not for sure. She has no idea who the father is nor can remember the name of one of the potential fathers. She is...
Brokenness

Brokenness

Author: Sophia Falco I stole the wand of that magician to try to fix this embodiment of the feeling of brokenness. How can it be possible to embody something not whole? Unlike shards of glass that litters the ground, he hit his autographed baseball (the autographer...
Self Love & Lived Experience

Self Love & Lived Experience

Author: Grace Scarpello Oh, what I’d say to 24-year-old Grace now. I’d tell her that her body is perfectly fine and wonderful as it is. I’d tell her that movement makes her brain and heart feel better. I’d say that she doesn’t have to work three jobs to “make up” for...
Maria Fernandez

Maria Fernandez

Something I am Proud Of: I thought I was going to get married to him, until I realized I was hypomanic and only in love with a dream. I thought my best friend would always be by my side, until she chose not to be, and died by suicide. I thought I had the independence...
The Adams Family: Triumphs and Groans

The Adams Family: Triumphs and Groans

Author: Curtis Hier Great success and great misery come with the bipolar life, and the Adamses had their share of both. John Adams is believed by many to have had bipolar II disorder. Thomas Jefferson described him as “sometime absolutely mad.” But Jefferson had a...
Self-Stigma and What If’s

Self-Stigma and What If’s

Author: Claire Gault For me, self-stigma comes from the what if? questions I ask myself. What if my manic episode never happened? What if it happened, but I decided to remain at my college instead of transferring to another school? What if I made different choices,...
Men’s Mental Health- Living with Bipolar Disorder

Men’s Mental Health- Living with Bipolar Disorder

Author: George Zou As a 30 year old single man, I can tell you Bipolar Disorder affects men in a special way. Having a Bipolar Disorder diagnosis means staying away from the lively parties and concerts. During this Covid pandemic, Bipolar Disorder has prepared me for...
The Time is Now

The Time is Now

Author: Melinda Goedeke Every time I drive home, I have to decide exactly when to turn onto my street as that split second decision could be the difference between making it safely home or not.   My timing has to be perfect. I am sometimes forced (in my mind)  to cut...
Elizabeth Starck

Elizabeth Starck

Something I am Proud Of: Since my diagnosis of bipolar type 2, I have been blessed to experience many victories. I have graduated college with high honors, got into graduate school, and work as a recovery coach and peer specialist. I have done all of this despite...
Darcie Cohee

Darcie Cohee

Something I am Proud Of: I’m proud of my overall journey; I have come a long way since my proper diagnosis at age 28 (four years ago), and even further since struggling with severe depression throughout my late teens and into my early 20s. I spent the majority...
Learning to Trust Instincts

Learning to Trust Instincts

Author: Stacey Isaacson Trust your gut. That’s what they say, right? But what if your gut sometimes leads you in the wrong direction? What if, in a spurt of creativity, you come up with a fantastic idea, only to find it less than fantastic when you carry it out in a...
George Zou

George Zou

Something I am Proud Of: Before being on injection, I was hospitalized 10 times and spent 5 years completing 1 year worth of college. However, once I found the right medication, I successfully completed 4 degrees total in 4 different disciplines: Liberal Arts,...
The Power in Overcoming Self Stigma

The Power in Overcoming Self Stigma

Author: Emily Ellison “Please don’t be bipolar” I thought to myself as I sat in the waiting room for my first psychiatrist appointment. I feared this diagnosis. Having done my degree in psychology I understood bipolar clinically and I believed that this diagnosis...
Lauren Favichia

Lauren Favichia

Something I am Proud Of: The thing that I am most proud of during my mental health journey, is that I have managed to continue furthering my education. Even though I’ve not reached my goal yet and I’ve ran into many different obstacles along the way, I...
Lithium and Dialysis

Lithium and Dialysis

Author: Natalia Beiser At the age of eighteen, I experienced my first full blown manic episode. I was not diagnosed with bipolar disorder at that time; it is not uncommon for bipolar patients to be misdiagnosed with schizophrenia. In 1990, there were few treatment...
Jennifer Randal-Thorpe

Jennifer Randal-Thorpe

Something I am Proud Of: I am proud to say that I have 39 years of lived experience.  I am a six- time suicide attempt survivor and on my journey, I have had to endure many things.  Whether they were good things or bad things my life experience has taught me how to...
Eternal Sleep 

Eternal Sleep 

Author: Melinda Goedeke  Sleeping is an event for me. 8:30 p.m. comes around, and I start thinking about sleep. I put on my oversized jammies and crawl into bed ready…..ready to shut down. To stop. To rest. My husband doesn’t do any “readying” and is asleep the moment...
The Dogwood Tree

The Dogwood Tree

Author: Bryson Hays Sometimes… I forget. I lose my memory of what it is like. I have forgotten what drowning feels like. Afloat on a lifeboat of medications, I forget what my world used to be. I barely remember the thrill of adrenaline that comes with inhaling...
Ashley Sievewright

Ashley Sievewright

Something I am proud of: Something I am proud of is overcoming stigma. A few years after being diagnosed an episode led me to being admitted to a psychiatric hospital. I expected my hospitalisation to represent something close to the film One Flew Over the...
HUGS for Kids

HUGS for Kids

Our HUGS for Kids Program is more important than ever After more than a year of lockdowns and uncertainty brought by the Covid-19 pandemic, children’s mental health has been greatly affected, and together we have the opportunity to provide comfort and hope to children...
Men at Work and Mental Illness

Men at Work and Mental Illness

Author: George Hofmann Men have a poor track record for seeking mental healthcare. The result is higher levels of disability and higher rates of death by suicide in men than in women. Men are less likely to seek treatment than women are, and they seem much more bound...
Visionary

Visionary

Author: Sophia Falco There were no lightbulbs in his house only candles. I tiptoed around each room, and one by one blew them out until darkness engulfed it like a demon, and I exited the back door, but immediately regretted this. He did not deserve to be in the dark...
Theodore & the Roosevelt Bipolar Inheritance

Theodore & the Roosevelt Bipolar Inheritance

Author: Curtis Hier Kay Redfield Jameson, one of the leading experts on bipolar disorder and a sufferer herself, has described Theodore Roosevelt as “hypomanic on a mild day.” Mark Twain warned that “we ought to keep in mind that Theodore, as statesman and politician,...
Mariko Hewer

Mariko Hewer

Advice For Newly Diagnosed: First, deep breath. Whether you are afraid of or enthusiastic about your future (or both), take it one day at a time. Life is unpredictable under the best of circumstances; add in mental illness and the instability multiplies. Get confident...
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