By: Kam **Spoiler/Trigger Alert** I’ve had Netflix and Prime for a long time but as I spend most of my free time either studying or engaged in some kind of outdoor activity, I was late to the party with ‘The Walking Dead’. My friends were positively shocked when I...
By: Carrie Elizabeth Lin This is the eighth in a series of 26 posts covering a variety of stress management tools and techniques, starting with the letter A. For some background information on stress and bipolar disorder, the blogger recommends reading her...
By Michael Kinyanjui Until my psychiatrist diagnosed me with bipolar disorder and prescribed medication, every aspect of my life was broken. I rarely talked to my family, and my friends were a distant memory. Worst of all was not knowing why everything was so screwed...
By: Conor Bezane I used to be ashamed of my bipolar status. I was ashamed of all of the screwball things I did when I was manic. That was back in 2008, when I tipped the shoe-shine guy $60 because that’s how much I had in my wallet and it seemed like the nice thing to...
By: Danielle Workman Being your own advocate is neverending. In January, I had to be admitted to the emergency room due to an unusual complication to a common ailment. While it wasn’t related to my mental illness at all, the emergency room staff was convinced that it...
By: Sabrina Ruediger This series is exploring the mania, including psychosis, in manic episodes of Bipolar I and my experience with that in a psychiatric hospital. I was inspired by a poem I wrote during my stay at Aurora Behavioral Health Psychiatric Unit in 2016,...
By: Carol Ray, Ph.D. Prisons and jails have become America’s default mental health institutions. More individuals with severe mental illnesses are housed in prisons and jails than in state psychiatric hospitals. Individuals with severe mental illness, while in...
By: Courtney Davey, MA, MFT There’s nothing quite like having a long-term relationship. After you have moved past some of that initial nervousness, it can feel great to have a steady person in your life to be a friend, lover, and support. Knowing their patterns and...
By: Conor Bezane I still make mixtapes. They may be on CD, but, to me, they will always be mixtapes. Music is my higher power in AA and even though I don’t go to very many meetings anymore, music still plays a pivotal, necessary role in my recovery — for my dual...
By: John Poehler Getting the news that you have a chronic mental illness can be quite disheartening. It can be extremely overwhelming. You cannot change the fact that you have bipolar disorder. You can change your perspective about mental illness by reframing your...
By: Lori Lane Murphy Before my Bipolar Diagnosis, I didn’t really give much thought to my sleep patterns. I guess that’s because I used alcohol so much that it didn’t seem like an issue. I confused passing out with sleeping for many years and I thought I had this...
By Michelle Vasiliu, Author of My Happy Sad Mummy. In 2007, when I was 40 years old, I experienced my first manic episode. I was duly diagnosed with bipolar one. Knowing what I now know about my condition, it is highly likely those sporadic periods of frenzied...
By: Megan Malfi
By: Kam Having an invisible illness such as mental health comes with all manner of problems and stigma. I’m very lucky in the sense that I am supported by my family and friends but I often find that thought creeping into my head… ‘they just don’t get it’. What I...
By: Kathleen Westerhaus Cryptic acronyms texted on our phones, new words perhaps, communicate ideas in short memorable phrases; examples include: LOL, ICYMI, DYK. I’ve come to appreciate the creativity of individuals who cleverly express phrases on their vehicle’s...
By: John Poehler It is interesting to note that the prevalence and type of bipolar disorder related to men’s health is gender specific. The DBSA (Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance) provides some startling statistics: The incidence of bipolar disorder is the same...
By: Brandon L. Lowe CCSI, MS, LPC, LCAS, MAC, CSOTP My name is Brandon Lowe, I’m a therapist and owner of a mental health agency (Knew Era Consulting PLLC) in Winston Salem, NC. I have experience spanning over 11 years in the field of psychology and therapy. I...
By: Lori Lane-Murphy I hate seeing my beloved struggling. He has severe depression that, thankfully, has been managed quite well for the past several years. Like many of us, he still has some days that are a little darker than he’d like, but nothing he can’t handle....
Lori Lane-Murphy is a comedic storyteller with a passion for mental health advocacy, particularly stigma reduction. Her goal in life is to show people that living with mental illness is no different than any other physical illness. Having grown up in a house with the...
By: Rome Loyola
By: Emily McGuigan My journey with food has been a long and exhausting eight year cycle of self-destruction. In those eight years, a mental and physical war broke out against myself, with myself. As someone who already suffers from mental illness, I have...
By: Courtney Davey, MA, MFT Relationships can be full of ups, downs, stress, excitement, and everything in between. From family relationships that have been lifelong, to platonic friendships that withstand the test of time, to romantic relationships that take us to a...
Courtney Davey is a marriage and family therapist in Philadelphia, PA. She earned her Masters from La Salle University in Marriage and Family Therapy. Her work and interests focus on anxiety and mood disorders in couples and sex therapy. She currently works with both...
By: Julie A. Fast The following is part two of an article from Julie A. Fast, the author of Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder: Understanding and Helping Your Partner. Click here to read part one if you missed the post. In today’s post, Julie...
By: Julie A. Fast ***The following is part one of an article from Julie A. Fast, the author of Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder: Understanding and Helping Your Partner. In today’s post, Julie gives realistic and positive ideas for a joyful special occasion when a...
Voices From The IBPF Community After reviewing our January posts, IBPF is excited about the increasing participation in our mental health Facebook chats! Every time somebody shares their experiences or advice, another person dealing with the same issue is being...
By: Jess Lader I’ve had the same psychotherapist for thirteen years. I chose my psychiatric practice from an insurance book of providers and got lucky on the first try. I know this is not common – but I implore anyone reading this to keep attempting until you find the...
By: Danielle Workman “It’s not complicated. It’s easy. You just have to make a decision. Are you going to hurt your unborn child because you are going to kill yourself?” Those words rocked me to my core. Those words sat like a ton of bricks on my mind as I left and...
By: Liz Wilson I often wonder if everyone has experienced the miracle of a well-spoken or well-meaning word during times of crisis or need? I grew up in a home fraught with poverty, but my Mother was constantly trying to make small things go a long way—both...
By: Alexis Zinkerman I try to sit on my yoga mat for 20 minutes in meditation a few days a week. I feel mentally and physically balanced. But I am no expert in meditation. I had some questions about my practice and my meditation teacher at the zendo was half a country...
By: Nic Fleming My thoughts turn to the whimsical ideas I have when I’m elevated, or in fact when I’m depressed or perhaps even relatively level. All my life I have always had an active imagination and a type of acute sensory capacity in the context of so many things:...
Quality of life in bipolar disorder Maintaining good quality of life is an important goal for people with bipolar disorder. Beyond managing the symptoms of bipolar disorder, people naturally want to maximise satisfaction in important life areas, such as the social,...
By: Kam Every year in January I have a ritual, I re-watch the TV series Xena: Warrior Princess, all six seasons of it. Xena was a TV show that aired between 1995 – 2001 about a warrior woman of ancient Greece who used to be a warlord but turned to the side of good...
Hi, my name is Kam, I’m from Manchester, England and I live with bipolar. I started blogging on the topic of mental health officially in 2015 but I have been writing my whole life. I was diagnosed at age 27 and at the time I couldn’t find any support or...
By: Emily McGuigan I have always dreamed of traveling across the world, so when I got the opportunity to study and intern in Florence, Italy, for three months I was beside myself. The closer the date crept up, the more my excitement morphed into anxiety. My mind...
By: Danielle Workman To many people, the mere thought of me telling my son about my bipolar disorder diagnosis was controversial. When people would ask if he knew, I’d always let them know that yes, he did know, and he was okay with it. They’d gasp, or shake their...
By: John Poehler Bipolar Disorder is a chronic illness of extreme moods, energy, and motivation. It is a complex disease that requires multiple coping strategies per day. The diagnostic criteria is the same for everyone. However, each individual is unique in their...
By: Conor Bezane You are dually diagnosed. You have bipolar and addiction. It’s a nightmare. Naturally. Alcohol makes you feel warm and fuzzy all over, especially in the winter, when all you feel like doing is cozying up to the fire and enjoying a glass of wine or a...
By: Allison Clemmons Tenacity is one’s strength of will or determination in continuing to do what one is doing. It is a word synonymous with stubbornness and patience. It is also a quality which those who struggle daily with serious mental disorders must seek to...
John Poehler was diagnosed Bipolar Type 1 back in 1999. He is the creator and founder of the blog “The Bipolar Battle”, whose mission is to help empower those afflicted with bipolar disorder live the life they deserve. John is a mental health advocate, writer and...
Voices From The IBPF Community This December we launched our new weekly health talks amongst our Facebook community as a way to keep up a conversation about mental health with one another! You all responded with much enthusiasm which tells us that there is much more...
Although the holiday season is known to be the most wonderful time of the year, the truth is that it can also be very difficult for many of us who are suffering from hardships and/or mental illness. It is important that we take care of our own mental health and also...
By: Danielle Workman Most girls have that one ‘must have’ item in their purse at all times. For some it is a certain lip gloss, others have a pair of great sunglasses, others hide great items like portable chargers or spritzers. These days, my go to items are my...
By: Melanie Luxenberg It’s that time of year again. December. The holidays are approaching. Time off school for students, perhaps time off work for those whose offices close (or who take time off), time to travel for some, staycations for others. A chance to spend...
By: Leslie A. Lindsay In Part 1, I described my personal experience with a parent with bipolar disorder. I have compiled a list of questions and concerns that you may have from your own personal experience! Maybe one is, “Why does my mom (or dad) have Bipolar...
By: Conor Bezane It’s holiday madness. Everyone around you is getting smashed. You want a drink too. But you can’t have one. Why? Because you are an alcoholic. And you are bipolar. What should you do? I’ve survived five Thanksgivings and four Christmases sober and...
By: Leslie A. Lindsay Hi, my name is Leslie. My Mom can be sometimes happy and other times sad. She sometimes forgets to take care of me because she is busy sewing, sewing, sewing. And smoking. She’s say, “Just a second,” with her brows pinched together, her eyes...
Leslie Lindsay is a mother, wife, and writer living in Chicagoland. Her mother died by suicide in June 2015 after a lengthy battle of bipolar disorder with psychotic features; she was an interior decorator. Leslie is at work on a memoir, aptly titled, MODEL HOME in...
By: Nic Fleming As I sit down to write this blog, I am reflecting on my last post and where I am at today. All I can come up with is that for me living with bipolar is all encompassing. It is present in every action I take or do not take. It undermines my sense of...
By: Emily McGuigan *The charcoal artwork featured above is titled “Too Much”by Emily McGuigan* When I’m asked for an example of how I’ve used art therapy in my own recovery, I instantly think of a recent time in my life where my art actually resulted in me...
