By: Danielle Workman October 21st is Check Your Meds Day. This is one of those daily holidays that I actually feel is very helpful to anyone on medications at all, not just medications for mental health. Checking your medications throughout your treatment is something...
By: Andrienne Kennedy Before I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and generalized anxiety disorder, I was clueless. I was clueless about mental health and mental illness. My knowledge on the topic was non-existent. The reason why I did not know about mental health or...
After suffering with what she thought was just depression for over 20 years, Andrienne Kennedy was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and generalized anxiety disorder back in 2014. For the 1st couple of years, she was in deep denial of her diagnosis because of the harsh...
By: Alexis Zinkerman I was chatting with another bipolar friend this weekend on the phone and the topic of conversation turned to jealousy. And I started to wonder how many other bipolar people struggle with the green-eyed monster old envy. Is this a feeling that goes...
By: Sasha Kildare Can we turn around the negative media portrayal of bipolar disorder? At times I am discouraged because of the way television dramas and some bestselling memoirs portray bipolar disorder. They tend to show only its negative, extreme aspects. While...
By Eleora Han, PhD Sometimes life doesn’t turn out as you plan. I learned this the hard way. I was living a secure, comfortable life. Married and about to graduate with my doctoral degree, most of my thoughts were focused on the family we would start together....
Dr. Eleora Han is a licensed clinical psychologist and writer whose work focuses on depression, bipolar, and stress related disorders. As a doctor, patient, and person living with bipolar disorder, she understands firsthand the pain that it can bring and the critical...
By: Ryan Heffernan Dear Dad, Can you hear me? You don’t have to answer that. I can feel your spirit every day, moving as a battlefield wraith through my wartorn life. Sometimes you’re my blooming, purple Jacaranda tree, sometimes you’re a star constellation gently...
By: Laura Sanscartier Dearest Laura, I call you dearest because I know you don’t believe it about yourself, but you are dear to so many. Right now, at 19 years of age, you want to cease existing, and you’re trying to figure out how. I want to tell you to...
By: Natalia Beiser Writing a book has been one of my bucket list goals. However an autobiography about my life may not be of interest to many readers. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder twenty four years ago. I consider myself to be a walking wealth of knowledge...
By: Liz Wilson Sobriety is the number one precursor to my success at Recovery. As an ex addict and person living with bipolar disorder, the International Bipolar Foundation has given me the opportunity to research and report to you on issues such as dual...
By: Danielle Workman I used to believe that I had to stay alive for the big things. For the most important people in my life, for those big, enormous reasons that everyone tells you to stay alive for. It felt more like a responsibility and less like an actual reason...
By: John Poehler I have a unique perspective when it comes to suicide. I am the survivor of multiple suicide attempts. It is difficult for me to admit this, but my goal is to help anybody in a situation where they are contemplating suicide. There is no need for me to...
By: Tosha Maaks September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month and so many things come to mind when talking about this subject. I personally am happy to say I no long experience suicidal depression but many people with bipolar disorder have thoughts of suicide...
By: Conor Bezane I am a writer. I am a blogger. I am a music aficionado and a tennis player. I am a television producer. But I am NOT bipolar. I happen to have the bipolar condition. Many of us always say our illness doesn’t define us, yet it’s hard not to catch...
By: Ryan Heffernan Mental health is hell of a thing. Changes a man, truth be told. Kills some too. I have done serious time at the mercy of my bipolar moods. But mercy is probably the wrong word. Because mercy is noticeable mostly for its absence. But then that’s not...
Ryan Heffernan is an Australian author and writer. His latest work is a dreamy, soulful, funny and ink black bipolar memoir, Clown & I (2018). Clown & I is a unique and confronting exploration of Ryan’s magical and magnetic life with bipolar disorder,...
By: Liz Wilson Dear Supporter; You are the Mother who answered little Liz’s incessant questions when my curiosity exhausted everyone else. You listened to me and that made me feel important and validated. Gave me a thirst for knowledge that remains insatiable to this...
By: Lori Lane-Murphy I turned 50 this year. That’s cause for celebration. I have been on this planet for 50 years and experienced the highs and lows that come with a half a century of living. I continue to experience the highs and lows of living with bipolar disorder....
By: Alexis Zinkerman Part One of my post on nutrition interviewed Dr. Drew Ramsey about the medical nature of eating healthy. Part two interviews Peri Gershoni, a dietician for Psynergy Programs who is working on her Master’s degree in Dietetics in the UK and writes a...
By: John Poehler Going to university is an extremely fun and exciting time of life. Most students juggle an intense class schedule, social life, and dorm living. For the most part, it is the first time a student will be away from their home for the first time. Let’s...
By: Tosha Maaks Music is a special thing when you have a mental health disorder like bipolar. When you are feeling manic it works off some energy but when you are feeling depressed it really gives you something to look forward too. Recently I was going through a bad...
By: Laura Sanscartier Dear John, I need to write you a letter of thanks. Though we’ve swapped emails for years with snarky jokes and little life updates, it’s time I thanked you. Truly. I was a soprano who smoked constantly, swore all the time, and wore inappropriate...
By: Emily McGuigan Realizing when an episode is approaching terrifies me because I never know how long it’ll last or the intensity it will be this time around. Mine are anywhere from two weeks to a month long depending on life circumstances. As much as I try to stop...
By: Sophie Prosolek When I started grad-school I was full of optimism. I was 21 years old and I had just graduated with a strong first class honours from a good university; I skipped the MSc, easily securing a place straight onto a prestigious PhD programme where I...
My name is Sophie, I’m a research scientist from Mansfield, England and I live with bipolar (type II) disorder. I decided to start speaking out about mental health after realising how little my condition was understood in some professional circles. When I first got...
By: Megan Malfi Megan Malfi describes her experience with seeking mental health aid at college.
Anonymous I’ve always told myself that I would never submit anything anonymously. I guess the vain part of me wanted the glory. It wasn’t until I considered telling this part of my story that I felt I couldn’t truly be me. That’s not to say that I’m ashamed of what...
By: John Poehler When I am depressed, I only want to lay in bed and sleep. My motivation and energy level are completely nonexistent and I do not feel like being around other people. I become hypersensitive and I end up second guessing my thoughts, feelings and...
By: Alexis Zinkerman I wanted to find out more about this new terminology going around the internet called nutrition psychiatry. I interviewed Dr. Drew Ramsey who can be found at drewramseymd.com. Dr. Ramsey is a psychiatrist, author, farmer, and founder of the Brain...
By: Natalia Beiser Dear Mrs. Martin: I was insecure when entering your College Prep English class in the year of 1989. I worked really hard and earned an “A” each quarter. You fostered my love of writing, one that I never had nurtured. We had a huge...
By: Lori Lane Murphy Summer started with a bang for me the first of June. My husband and best friend had a stroke. He’s ok. No lasting physical damage, but there are certainly some psychological ones we are both trying to manage. If I’m honest, it’s mostly me that’s...
By: Conor Bezane Common people do not have a monopoly on feeling hopeless and suicidal. It can happen to anyone, including celebrities. When a depressed Sinéad O’Connor sequestered herself in a New Jersey motel room in 2015, crying out for help in a 12-minute YouTube...
By: Courtney Davey, MA, MFT When you care for someone who lives with Bipolar Disorder, there can be a variety of questions around how to handle discussions that involve their symptoms or their behaviors. Wanting to be sensitive and not overstep is common, and...
By: Laura Sanscartier In the battle against Bipolar Disorder, one often feels alone. This is nothing new. The disease is such that we are left feeling powerless. No one will ever feel the way that we feel, will never know the highs and lows, will never know the agony...
by The Secret Psychiatrist When we think of therapy, what pops into our head? Before becoming a psychiatrist, I would think of a stereotypical image of an American Freudian counselor analysing a patient lying on a couch. Of course, this does indeed still happen, and I...
The Secret Psychiatrist is a female doctor and psychiatrist working currently in London. She has a degree in medicine and philosophy, as well as co-founding her own charity abroad in Romania helping children with learning disabilities. She enjoys sharing tales of her...
By: Liz Wilson When I did my training to become a Peer Support Specialist, I also took 20 hours of Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) Training. The idea behind a WRAP is to create a deeper understanding of when and how to help you. The key is YOU. Your normalcy,...
By: Tosha Maaks I am what I consider a true manic these days. For me, I teeter more towards mania than depression more often than I use too. It is still a constant balancing act and I still have rough days where I have depression. However, it is not the suicidal...
By: Carissa Martos The first time I really contemplated suicide, I was a teenager, and there were two feelings, and only two feelings. The first was an inexorable exhaustion, one that had been dogging me for months, had finally grabbed hold of me, and I felt I...
By: Danielle Workman If you’re anything like me, the mere thought of the 4th of July, Chinese New Year, or even smaller firework related holidays and events make your skin crawl. These holidays come with a wide range of emotions, and all of them royally mess up what...
By: Julie A. Fast People with bipolar disorder live on the edge of mood swings. This means that what we do in our every day lives affects how we wake up the next morning. The internet, constant access to binge watching on Netflix and other channels, 24 hour stores...
By: Laura Sanscartier When I was 20, I was sexually assaulted. The details of such an incident are my own, and not anything of any use in a blog post, but they caused a condition called Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. PTSD is found in the DSM-V, and many who...
Carissa is a teacher, mother, wife, and writer who lives in the Pacific Northwest. Now in her mid-thirties, she has lived with bipolar since she was a teen, as well as having a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder and C-PTSD. She also lives with blinding ocular...
By: Carissa Martos When multiple diagnoses exist in the same person, and impact each other, they are known as co-morbid conditions. My bipolar diagnosis came when I was 19, but I’d struggled with the cycles of manic function and depressed inability since...
By: Liz Wilson Trauma: An incident and its physiological and psychological effects on victims and/or witnesses to the event. The DSM describes 5 types of PTSD, the label most commonly associated with trauma. I want to talk about comorbid PTSD; a diagnosis given when...
By: Tosha Maaks When my father became sick about three years ago, I started to wake up almost nightly with night terrors. I would begin to cry and scream in my sleep to the point that my husband would wake up from a sound sleep and hold me as I tried to regain my...
By: Jayson Blair I woke up late in the morning. It was a little after 7 a.m. I have been sick for the past few days so I decided to not rush into work. I made a cup of coffee in my kitchen and then walked over to the living room. Standing between the couch and my...
By: Courtney Davey MA, MFT Talking about Bipolar Disorder can sometimes be difficult to do with people that you care about. It can be exhausting to educate people that you care about on the way that you interact with your symptoms and the world when you experience...
By: Rwenshaun Miller, MA, LPCA
