Author: Melissa Howard Growing up, I believed society placed a great deal of value on being “nice.” Being nice often seemed to mean saying “yes” to the requests and expectations of others, regardless of the personal cost. There was an unspoken pressure to please...
Author: Dr. Jillian LaFrance There was a time in my life when everything I struggled with stayed hidden. On the outside, I appeared reserved, maybe a little different, but largely fine. Inside, it was a very different reality. My emotions felt unpredictable, intense,...
Author: Nicholas A Duran, LMHC I want to run through the city. Then I want to lie down in the street. I’m sitting in the park, crying. I’m fighting for my life. One minute we’re celebrating our anniversary— I’m happy, in love, present. The next morning I wake up to...
Author: Major General Gregg F. Martin, PhD, US Army (Ret.) For Mental Health Awareness Month, 2026 Mental Health IS health. Be aware of it and learn about it. Take a Psychological First Aid course. Talk about it with family, friends, and colleagues. Normalize the...
Author: Anna Jeavons The year I had my first psychotic episode – at nineteen – was also the year I first picked up an acoustic guitar and wrote a song. For years, expressing myself musically helped me process and share my experiences. Creative expression has always...
Author: Lisa MacDonald There have been times when my mind felt like it was moving a thousand miles an hour while my emotions were sinking into darkness. My body was restless, yet my thoughts were filled with despair. I couldn’t sleep. My thoughts raced uncontrollably,...
Anonymous asks: What is the best way for a person with bipolar to support another person with bipolar? There is no one-size-fits-all model for how to support others, especially if you are navigating the same diagnosis. Since there are diverse experiences with bipolar...
Author: Love K The first time I heard about someone having bipolar disorder was my first boyfriend, Manny. Manny and I had an attraction to each other like no other. He was the only boyfriend I ever considered marrying. Manny and I would get into somewhat explosive...
Author: Anonymous Anosognosia is a neurological condition in which a person is unable to recognize their own illness. It is often misunderstood as denial or resistance, but it is neither. It reflects impaired awareness caused by changes in brain function, and it is...
Author: Nicholas Duran, LMHC Bipolar disorder is often misdiagnosed. First it’s depression. Then anxiety. Maybe ADHD. Perhaps you’re prescribed an antidepressant, and before long you find yourself spiraling somewhere you never expected—sometimes even landing in the...
Author: Dr. Caroline Fraissinet I’ve worked in career advisement for nearly a decade. I also live with bipolar disorder. When most people think about a job offer, salary is the first thing that comes to mind — but there are other benefits that can be just as...
Author: Melissa Howard As the clocks spring forward this month, many people notice little more than a mild inconvenience — a slightly earlier morning, a moment of grogginess. For individuals living with bipolar disorder, however, even a one-hour shift in circadian...
Author: Ivan Aponte Before I became a teacher, I had already been a patient. In the classroom I had structure, purpose, and responsibility. I believed in education and in helping young people succeed. From the outside my life looked stable. Few people could imagine...
Anonymous asks: What’s the difference between bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder? Bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder (BPD) are often confused and misdiagnosed. They can even co-occur. However, I will explain the fundamental...
Karima (Age 31, Bipolar 1) asks: What type of therapy modalities help someone with both bipolar + PTSD? A number of therapies can be helpful for individuals with bipolar disorder and PTSD. Of course, there is no one-size-fits-all model for treatment, but I will share...
Author: Maria Mainelli Ding. I get a notification on my phone. It’s snowing out and I’m curled up in a chair that’s slowly fraying, matching my patience for being trapped inside. There’s a chill leaking through the shoddily built window frame, reminding me we’ve been...
Author: Matthew Palmieri Dating with bipolar disorder sometimes feels like everyone else got the rulebook and I didn’t. Breakups hit harder. Rejection lingers longer. I’ve been through a lot: relationships that ended in disaster, a marriage that unraveled under the...
Author: Camelia Porrata I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder in November 2022. Before the diagnosis, I used to self-medicate with alcohol and medical cannabis. After being diagnosed, I continued drinking almost every day and mixed it with medication at the same time....
Author: Nicholas A. Duran, LMHC A Somatic Reflection on Mood, Memory, and Spiritual Connection When you live with bipolar disorder, grief doesn’t move in straight lines. It spirals. Expands. Contracts. It rises like altitude and drops like undertow, the nervous system...
Author: Dr. Jillian LaFrance True crime, dramatic television shows, and sensational headlines have turned mental illness into a familiar storytelling plot: someone with a diagnosis snaps, and chaos follows. For people with bipolar disorder, this narrative is...
Author: Nicholas Duran I often return to the same question: How do I keep living when so much has been lost? The answer, for me, has never been simple. It has been forged in the layers of trauma, the long corridors of grief, and the unpredictable tides of bipolar...
Author: Matthew Palmieri Coming to Terms Over the last few years of stability, I’ve found myself feeling both peaceful and a little heartbroken. Peaceful because I’ve finally accepted my diagnosis. Heartbroken because I spent so many years fighting it. Every time I’d...
Author: Mihali Mqushulu Ahhhhhh. The roaring 20s. You’re a young women stepping into what most might consider: your prime! The world is your playground, with endless possibilities and iridescent dreams that are coming to life right in front of you. You are in your...
Author: April Joy Mansilla I enter the unit armed with a cart of creative tools. These are not just brushes and paints, but instruments of self-expression and hope, my hope and theirs. I am an expressive arts teacher in Acute Psychiatry at St. Joseph’s Healthcare...
Dear world, I used to covet you – wanting all of you all at once (I was so sick) Why? I cannot keep carrying you – why do they keep expecting me to? I’m not so sick (but I’ll always be) I will never forget the times we spent fumbling through...
Author: Minnie Almader Trigger warning: This content contains a description of a near accidental drowning. For some people a trigger can affect them by shutting down or feeling numb. Others may feel a lot of anxiety in their body. The body and mind work together but...
Author: Nicholas A. Duran, LMHC When I’m depressed, most people don’t notice. I still work. I still show up. I’ve presented choreography on stage, supported my therapy clients, attended meetings. But beneath the surface, it’s fog. Thick and impenetrable. A barrier...
Author: Matthew Jackman I was born in 1990 into a lineage marked by intergenerational hardship, stretching from convict resettlement in England to the Irish potato famine. These histories of suffering and endurance shaped the soil into which I was born in Australia....
Author: Matthew Palmieri Bipolar disorder leaves a trail of collateral damage—during both depression and mania. From the outside looking in, it must be confusing. It can feel like I’ve been temporarily abducted, replaced by a version of myself that has no reason, no...
By Melissa Howard I was still a child when I realized my moods were different from other kids my age. This awareness came even before the traumatic accident I experienced prior to my eleventh birthday, the medical negligence, and the two additional—yet...
Author: Mihali Mqushulu Imagine this: you’re fresh from your psychiatrist office, still placing the plaguing thoughts in your mind that confirm a new life and identity — you have been diagnosed with manic depression. A few things then cognitively jump at you: Am I...
Author: Nicholas A. Duran, LMHC As a queer Mexican American therapist, former professional dancer, and researcher, I’ve always been fascinated by the ways art and mental health intertwine. Before becoming a counselor, I earned an MFA in dance, where I learned that...
Author: Tom Luker I used to find joy in the cracks of the world, In shadows that danced, in leaves as they twirled. A puddle was poetry, rain sang in rhyme, Each moment a treasure, unmeasured by time. Back then, the wind whispered secrets to me, The stars told me...
Author: Matthew Palmieri There’s nothing quite like the rush of a manic episode—the clarity, the boundless energy, the feeling of being untouchable. Ideas come faster than I can process them. Sleep becomes optional. Music hits differently. The world feels like it’s...
Author: Major General Gregg Martin, US Army (Retired), PhD, with his wife Maggie and son Phil In my book, Bipolar General: My Forever War with Mental Illness, I capture “Family Perspectives” in the Appendix. My wife Maggie and our three sons explain that they just...
Author: Jillian LaFrance, PhD I have Bipolar II disorder. On paper, I look like someone who has it all together: multiple degrees, a full-time career, a part-time teaching position, and a daughter I’m raising on my own. Most days, I keep up with everything. I meet...
Author: Kimberly Pratt I exit my car and shut the door. I’m in the San Francisco Bay Area and it’s hot outside. I glance ahead and see a sign that indicates a 12-step meeting. That’s the space, I’m here, that’s where I need to go. But I’m different. I’m not just an...
Author: Lexie Manion I have been in remission from bipolar disorder for six years now. The last major mood episodes I experienced due to bipolar disorder were a depressive episode a few years ago and a hypomanic episode a year ago. It’s been important for me to stay...
Poem Author: Tom Luker The Enemy Between My Ears The enemy between my ears has no face, A shadow that lingers, a ghost taking space. It whispers in echoes too quiet to trace, Yet somehow, it’s louder than all I embrace. An identity unknown, yet it knows...
Author: Matthew Palmieri When I look back on my past behavior—especially during manic or depressive episodes—it’s hard not to feel shame or embarrassment. Even after some recovery and ongoing acceptance, there are moments I still cringe over. As much as I’ve accepted...
Author: Melissa Howard Opening up conversations about mental health as a family can feel daunting, especially when it involves complex conditions like bipolar disorder. Yet, as my spouse’s reflections reveal, beginning the conversations early and creating openness can...
Author: Melissa Howard Living with bipolar disorder (BD) creates many unknowns—variables that shape my life in ways that those without a mental illness may never have to consider. BD doesn’t just affect my day-to-day; it impacts my entire family. Every decision I make...
Author: Jillian LaFrance, Ph.D. Bipolar disorder is often portrayed as dramatic swings in mood and behavior, typically characterized by episodes of mania or hypomania and depression. But for many, bipolar disorder exists quietly behind a guise of competence,...
Author: Anonymous Pediatrics was my first encounter with human reality. The first language through which I learned how to heal. It was a medicine of contact, of play, of kneeling down to meet childhood in its own world. I learned to crouch, to connect,...
Author: Matthew Palmieri Disclosing the Illness So now, with a clearer and more honest outlook, I find myself asking the question of, ‘Should I let this person know about this thing that might impact our relationship?’ It’s a divisive topic I often come...
Author: Mihlali Mqushulu What is the first thing that comes to mind when we think of “advocacy”? A career based in the realms of law and justice? A high standing profession that can be practiced by those who are academically qualified right? Sounds a bit...
Author: Melissa Howard When I was first diagnosed with bipolar 1 disorder, I was devastated. I couldn’t fully comprehend the complexity of the illness or what it would mean to live with it for the rest of my life. I resisted the diagnosis, avoided medication,...
Author: Jamie Hopkins I was nine years old when six-time Olympic medalist Clara Hughes stopped in my town on the final days of her cross-Canada bicycle tour – an initiative with a goal of starting conversations and ending the stigma surrounding mental...
Author: Matthew Palmieri Challenging Misconceptions When I first started sharing my personal experience managing bipolar, I felt both relief and ongoing trepidation that if people around me now knew I had a mental illness, I’d be seen as too much...
Author: Charles Kelly For most of my life in high school and college, I made friends with my undiagnosed bipolar disorder in the driver’s seat. Therefore, when I got my diagnosis, I couldn’t be the fun, energetic, and laughable person I once was....
