Author: Chris Chambers It is my 15-year anniversary since I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Looking back, I think one of the most painful parts of my journey was the underlying belief that bipolar disorder was my fault. I had certain traumas in childhood...
Author: Lianca Lyons I was crying uncontrollably at work because I was mentally, physically, and emotionally EXHAUSTED. I would wake up in the middle of the night sending work texts and emails about things I had either forgotten about or needed to remember. My...
Author: Andrea Vassilev Many people experience shame, embarrassment, and guilt surrounding their bipolar diagnosis. They feel as though they must be “one of those people” others are always talking about. They suffer from low self-esteem and feelings...
Author: Natalia A. Beiser I counter negativity about mental illness by acquiring and displaying survival skills. I do not let having bipolar disorder hold me back from completing anything. I strive to be a great example of how to live with mental illness. I was a...
By: Gregg F. Martin Ph.D. Suicide is one of the most misunderstood and stigmatized of human experiences. We need a call to arms, not in the sense of weapons, but rather with people working together. Most suicides result from a combination of two things: a mental...
Authors: Major General Gregg Martin, PhD, US Army Retired, and David Bartley May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a month in which we shine a light on mental health. I have chosen to focus on one of the most misunderstood and stigmatized of human experiences –...
Author: Natalia A. Besier Therapy has benefitted my mental wellness journey by teaching me to reclaim my mental health “toolbox” by rethinking and restructuring my negative thoughts. I find that I benefit most from cognitive behavioral therapy and this focus causes...
Author: Claire Gault I didn’t recognize my ableism until I began meeting others who have mental illness, like myself—all people that didn’t fit my perception of “that kind” of person. Through movies and television, I’ve grown to build a stereotype of what...
Author: Ashley Sievewright This years theme of Bipolar Together for World Bipolar Day reminds me of when i was first inspired to talk about my mental health after watching the television documentary Stephen Fry – The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive back in...
Author: Neil McCarthy Living with bipolar disorder often means I keep a layer of separation between others and me. Some close friends and family might know details of my illness, but not even my eight-year-old daughter knows why I spend 15 minutes every...
Author: Sarah Ross Bipolar Disorder is a complex mental illness, and it often gets categorized into solely consisting of sudden mood changes. But it’s not as black and white as that. Although we do experience mood changes, our days don’t involve our emotions...
Author: Jeffrey Johanishing That’s right! You’re darn tootin’. We are, I am and you certainly are, Awesome! Why? Well, I’ll explain. I sincerely believe that people with bipolar disorder are extremely impressive, inspire great admiration and, truly,...
Author: Major General Gregg F. Martin, PhD, US Army Retired As World Bipolar Day approaches on March 30th, let’s build on our momentum and progress and keep it going…for years to come! By no more than one percent of separation, we all know...
Author: Ana Gimber In a 2022 survey, respondents reported that living with Bipolar l Disorder can be a difficult and isolating experience that impacts many aspects of their lives. Approximately four of five respondents (81%) agreed** that they felt like no one...
Author: Jayson Blair While Black Americans tend to experience similar rates of mental illness compared to other racial groups in the countries, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but there are strong important contextual differences that...
Author: Gregg F. Martin, PhD, Major General, US Army (Retired) Bipolar disorder can strike virtually anyone, regardless of gender, race, education or class, from pre-teens into our sixties. It is an equal opportunity destroyer of lives and health, marriages and...
Author: Melinda Goedeke We don’t have bonfires. We have scorching, searing conflagrations that silently raise our internal boiling points until we are nearly cooked and charred. We scoot back only an inch as we don’t really want to leave the warmth despite the fear...
Author: Natalia A. Beiser “Bipolar is not a disability. They can take a pill and be okay. Those people just need to go out and get a job.” The ignorance displayed in the above sentence is unreeling to me. That person does not know of the financial devastation of a...
Author: Maria Eva Jacobs My name is Maria Eva Jacobs and I have lived with Bipolar Disorder my entire adult life. I’m here to tell you, there is life after diagnosis! Though still on medication, I live today in remission and while that is not a perfect walk, it is...
Author: Dayna J. When I first became ill with bipolar disorder I stopped talking with many of my friends and family. I also hid my diagnosis in the workplace. I isolated myself in embarrassment. I was filled with shame. I was grieving the person I thought I had lost...
Author: Serena Goldsmith, LCSW As someone who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder thirty years ago, I used to be someone in the crowd who did not know that there was hope for recovery. I wish that there had been an organization like International Bipolar Foundation...
Author: Lisa MacDonald I was diagnosed as a young teen with a mental illness but I hid it from others. I was so ashamed and embarrassed about it. Even my best friends didn’t know how badly I was suffering. I didn’t realize this until much later, but...
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...
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,...
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...
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...
Author: Nikta Niazi I have very much faced mental health stigma as a female. Actually I have come to the consclusion that each gender has their own obstacles when it comes to mental health issues. I was reading one of the blog post on the website; a psychiatrist...
Author: Kassy Nguyen When was the last time you have practiced self-kindness? Often more than I am sure most of us would like to admit, we are quite self-deprecating and harsh on ourselves. Although, it is often time normalized by the media to be self-deprecating and...
Author: Jayson Blair, IBPF Honorary Board Member Forgive me for thinking I had fallen backwards into a time machine. It was June 2020, but it could have just as easily been June 1865. In a hearing on the higher incidence of COVID-19 among black Americans, an Ohio...
Author: Kim Barnett I have kept my personal opinions and thoughts, about the state of our nation, mostly to myself. I have been extremely open about my mental health struggles, but now that the state of our nation is having an impact on my mental health, it is no...
Author: Courtney Casal I’ve found the stigma to be true, at least in my experience: having a conversation about your mental illness with your professors, much less anyone, is incredibly daunting. No matter how confident you might feel, you are immediately fearful of...
Author: Lauren Meredith I was diagnosed with General Anxiety Disorder (GAD) when I was 21 years old. I was a senior in college. I had testing problems and lo and behold it was due to testing anxiety which was also manifested in various other aspects of my life. My...
Author: George Hofmann It seems that today a man with a mental illness in his middle age is without a voice. So many of the stories told about the struggle with an incoherent mind are from the point of view of the young and mostly female. For so many older men the...
Author: Valéry Brosseau The gym smelled a bit like a warehouse would smell, but mostly like sweat. I came to this gym 5 times a week to practice Brazilian Jiu Jitsu but tonight I was not feeling it. I struggled through the warm up. My anxiety was making me irritable...
Author: Caoimhe Mercer This month (May) is Mental Health Awareness Month 2020. There are many differences this year, however, due to the concerns surrounding Covid19. With the need for social distancing and isolation, people’s mental health will likely suffer as a...
Author: George Hofmann How do you relate to bipolar disorder, and how do you describe yourself? Language can have a powerful influence over self-definition, revelation, and healing. The way we describe ourselves and our condition speaks volumes about our outlook and...
Author: Violette Kay This World Bipolar Day, I look back at all the ways bipolar disorder has impacted my life, and the variety of these experiences is so vast I don’t know whether I should mourn or celebrate. Bipolar disorder has ruined my life a million times over,...
Author: Rebecca Lombardo Up until very recently, the last thing in the world I would call myself is brave. I’m still having difficulty accepting it some days. What I saw is what my Bipolar Disorder told me to see: me, curled up in a ball on my bed in tears, too...
