I made a friend through The International Bipolar Foundations Facebook page this spring. I had posted a target-market question, wanting to know what people wanted, what they couldn’t find and what they hoped for in recovery. Andrea pleaded for a route to an...
Over tea, Dan recalled the young woman I had been at nineteen, long before I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at thirty-seven. He mentioned that, sure, I seemed moody at times, but he noted that my moods didn’t swing to either extreme. While Dan isn’t a...
Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Sarah and I’m twenty-seven. As you’ve seen in my bio, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when I was twenty-two, but I had been struggling with it since I was twenty.Before I got married, I was seeing a doctor...
Hello, I’m Jessi. I recently came out with my diagnosis at work on a large scale, by writing an article for our hospital bulletin. The response from friends, coworkers and strangers was so positive that it led me to find the confidence to start a blog about my...
As a woman with bipolar I disorder I have experienced many major depressive episodes. During those times I’ve not only relied heavily on family, but also on friends and church leaders. As a recipient of the compassionate phrase: “I’m here if you need to talk”, I want...
When I’m high, I can fly. When I’m low, I sink into the deepest, darkest place. I keep wishing I could change this.One of my medications in particular gets me through the day. It’s actually supposed to help with anxiety, but it sort of has the...
This poem I wrote about bipolar. I wrote it to express how I felt years ago when my bipolar was at its worst. I hope this poem inspires you and speaks to the core of which you are, I know there are many who can relate. There is always...
It often feels as if my Bipolar Disorder is just one more relationship in my life; a being separate from myself but like a significant other who I speak to everyday. No one can make me mad or push my buttons quite the way my illness can, so she definitely feels like a...
Several women sat in straight rows at the church waiting for the meeting to begin. My friend, Joann, introduced me, “We just had to ask Patricia to come and speak with us tonight because she is so experienced in depression.” This brought a chuckle to the...
In every one’s life there are moments when you feel like you will never be able to get up and live again. I had one of those moments in my life. During which I thought I was done with everyone. I had crashed hard. Harder than I ever did. It was a really bad time.It...
Therapists are useful in helping a consumer understand how one is feeling and thinking, this is also known as talk therapy. Many issues are discussed and it has been proven useful to help with stability and managing symptoms. But what do you do when you’re struggling...
Dear friends,Have you ever felt like you just didn’t know how to act in recovery? Were you worried about the actions you took may raise red flags to those around you? That pretty much sums up my entire year after my first hospitalization. Thankfully, I’ve...
Life was moving along pretty well for me—that is until bipolar disorder found its way to my door. From that point on things started to get very difficult. At first I was hit with severe manic episodes only to fall down so low I found myself knocked down...
Yoga Helps Me to Connect the DotsLast month I pulled a muscle in my neck while reaching into the backseat at a stop light for a book my son had dropped and couldn’t reach. Well I couldn’t reach it either, apparently, injuring myself pretty badly. After dealing with...
I recently read a blog post from the Huffington Post by a Ms. Natasha Tracy (1). Her post centered around a claim that portrayals of people with neurodiverse conditions in the media tends to focus on overly polarized...
Today, despite it being summer and my not having to rush my two girls to school, I woke up in a big ‘ol funk. At 5:00 a.m. our precocious Lucy, now a thirteen-week-old bundle of energy, acted as a canine alarm clock and woke me up. She was raring to...
Yoga makes me feel better! Here are some reasons why:1. Yoga helps me sleep better. Snooze. Boring. Boo. Who wants to talk about the importance of sleep at the very beginning of a blog? (Quick! Raise your hand!) Yoga, Restorative Yoga (passive, slow Yoga) in...
Information on the internet about bipolar disorder seems to be booming right now – that and everything else. Much of this information is coming from individuals like myself – moms that blog. There’s one problem with this: not only are moms inherently busy, but bipolar...
Information on the internet about bipolar disorder seems to be booming right now – that and everything else. Much of this information is coming from individuals like myself – moms that blog. There’s one problem with this: not only are moms inherently busy, but bipolar...
I am a doer. I dont like to sit around and watch things get done. I like to jump in with both feet and try my hardest to help out. This gets me in trouble sometimes as I end up with too much on my plate, but its just the way I am.Three years ago when I was diagnosed...
I had great aspirations to write a high-quality bipolar-themed blog post last weekend. I envisioned typing a few paragraphs filled with a pearl of wisdom or two that Ive learned since I started recovering from bipolar depression.It ain’t gonna happen....
I at first didn’t even know how to spell the word, let alone understand the proper definition of it. But today, well today I made huge strides into my recovery. You see, the past two days have been rather rocky. No real particular reason why, perhaps too much...
I hope my readers are taking it day by day. Remember don’t ever let the light inside of you dim. This month’s topic I’m going to address is ”Why hospitalization is so important and what important and positive role does it play in a person’s...
During this years Mental Health Awareness month I was thrilled to be selected as a 2014 Mental Health Hero associated with PsychCentrals popular Mental Health Humor column! I was chosen for this honor by advocate/cartoonist/Psych Central columnist Chato...
Is this your first appointment with a new therapist? If this is the case, it will take a while for you to get to know the therapist and their style, as well as for them to get to know you. Therapy is useless if theres not positive energy both ways. Evaluate...
I have found one of the most difficult aspects of having a mental illness and specifically bipolar disorder, is realizing we are much more than a diagnosis. In fact, buying into the whole idea of “I am bipolar” instead of believing “I have bipolar,” in my...
As I was sipping a hot cup of tea in a breezy evening, for the first time, I could feel the calmness in my soul as the wind touched my face. For so long, I had been struggling to feel this way. I had never felt this way. What was this calmness? I wondered. It was as...
This Monday I cried tears of joy for the first time in many years. Probably since my diagnosis, thirteen years ago. I didn’t even cry at my wedding, and my husband is everything to me. So what made me weep openly with happiness? A new...
My name is Doreen. My psychiatrist says I have bipolar disorder. Some people say I don’t have bipolar disorder. Sometimes I believe them.I have had one full psychotic break, one manic episode with milder psychotic symptoms, and one short-lived manic...
Over at PsychCentral, I’ve been running a series on postpartum depression and having bipolar while pregnant. I think it’s important to reach out to mother’s who are struggling with the decision of what to do while they are pregnant or if they...
When I got into advocacy work, public speaking, and blogging, I knew there would be people who disagreed with me and even disliked me altogether. I am familiar with pop culture references to “haters” and I know the comment section can be a difficult place to get...
When I was in the beginning stages of being diagnosed bipolar most people wrote me off. They thought this girl’s out of school, she can’t keep a job and she certainly cannot contribute to society. I was a self-fulfilling prophecy in a sense I thought I was worthless...
As of this writing, I will be welcoming a puppy into our home tonight. Our family is totally freaking out about our new addition in the best way possible! And now more than ever, I believe in “furry antidepressants”. Please allow me to...
A couple of months ago I read a very enlightening article in my city’s newspaper. This article caught my attention right away because of the title; it literally jumped off the page at me, “We need Taunton State...
Were never gonna survive, unless, we get a little crazy Seal, CrazyI used to love listening to Seal sing Crazy on my VW Jettas stereo while driving up and down San Franciscos steep hills, a fitting backdrop for such a song. One must drive differently in...
I know many of you are scratching your heads and wondering if someone sane could actually make such a statement. But in my eyes, bipolar has been a blessing in many ways. I have learned a lot about myself and how to manage this illness well enough to be an author, a...
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. It got me thinking about when I was first aware of my own mental illness.For me, it came on gradually. As a middle school kid, I battled waves of sadness. It didn’t help that I was bullied mercilessly. As I got older, the...
Relationships are a difficult thing to navigate, especially when you suffer from depression. If you are one of the fortunate people that has found perhaps a handful of people that understand your pain, your mood swings, and your sadness, consider yourself...
Its my birthday. Im 37 today. I have lived with the diagnosis of bipolar disorder for eight years. In that time, literally almost every permutation of the disease has been applied to my particular state. Early-onset but undiagnosed. ...
While my blog started out as a place to vent and rave I have discovered that by just regurgitating my daily events I am no longer getting much out of it. As a result I have decided to change my blog into a more ‘self-help’ place where I can share my...
In my role as a mental illness speaker and blogger, I receive a lot of comments and questions. The one item that stands out is that there is a lot of confusion over what bipolar disorder is and what it isnt.Many folks believe that bipolar disorder is just a more...
Last week while on Facebook I spotted an International Bipolar Foundation post about the new ABC television series Black Box premiering Thursday, which features a doctor living with bipolar disorder. ABCs Black Box overview is:The twenty-first...
As you may have noticed I haven’t been keeping up with my blog. Unfortunately I’ve been dealing with multiple hospitalizations for my bipolar disorder as well as my eating disorder. I was at John Hopkins from June-September 2013, and was at the Princeton Eating...
“Stigma = a mark of disgrace or infamy; a stain or reproach, as on one’s reputation”I was diagnosed with postpartum bipolar disorder in October of 2007, six weeks after the birth of my second daughter. I was thirty-seven-years-old when I...
I’m so happy it’s the middle of the week already! Nothing major or stressful has happened, but I’m looking forward to the kiddos having a three day weekend. No stress in getting everyone around in the morning for three days will be nice. Believe me, I’m happy I don’t...
As I sit in my parked car outside the grocery store where I just grabbed a cup of Starbucks to fuel my writing, the rain pounds my windshield, coming down in sheets with such force the car is shaking. It’s the kind of rain where it blurs the driver’s view of the road,...
I never knew what “pdoc” meant until I was diagnosed with bipolar one disorder, and learned that it’s a shorthand term used for psychiatrists by those in the bipolar community.My pdoc is wonderful. Out of the myriad of doctors I’ve seen...
Good afternoon readers, I hope this entry finds you fighting to keep going. Because I truly believe with all my heart every precious life has such Value in this world, and I want to offer you as much encouragement as I...
This is the third blog in a series about a recent psychiatric hospital stay that I had in December of 2013. To read the first post click here. On the second day of my hospital stay last December, I had a big realization. I was not on ANY...
For the past twenty years I’ve been a closet songwriter. During my first year attending the University of California at Santa Cruz, I was a regular at open mike night and I belonged to my schools Concert Choir. Our final concert was an exotic piece sung...
