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![Staying Afloat During Depression](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/bipolar-depression-stay-afloat.jpg)
Staying Afloat During Depression
I have tried to write this blog countless times over the course of the past few weeks, but the words would not come. Come to think of it, I’ve tried to do a lot of things over the past few weeks, until eventually I just gave up, sinking into my own private despair....
![The Twelve Tips Of Christmas: How To Manage Recovery During The Holiday Season](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Christmas_candle_snowman_with_lights.jpg)
The Twelve Tips Of Christmas: How To Manage Recovery During The Holiday Season
If you live with a mental illness like bipolar disorder, the holidays can be a tough time of year. Between crowds, dysfunctional families, and pressure to buy gifts, the holidays can bring bouts of depression, battles with mania, and huge helpings of anxiety. Here are...
![Finding Your Purpose And Giving Back](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/purpose_0.jpg)
Finding Your Purpose And Giving Back
Finding purpose in a life with bipolar disorder and various other mental diseases is not easy. I had no aim in life. I was born, grew up under the shelter of my parents like every other normal kid, and then was suddenly pushed into the real world when my mother passed...
![Running is Part of My Therapy](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Insta-Blog-Template-16.png)
Running is Part of My Therapy
When I get depressed, I suffer from severe pain deep in my muscles and not many things help it. During a particularly rough few months, two different massage therapists asked me if I had considered trying running as an outlet. They each told me that my muscles felt...
![A Day In The Life Of Hypomania](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Hypomania-2.png)
A Day In The Life Of Hypomania
(A picture from the mural I drew on my wall during that hypomanic episode.) A while ago while cleaning out my room I found diary entries of a hypomanic episode that I had at the start of 2015. The fact that I had written a diary entry is unusual because I don’t...
![Help Us Win Healthline’s Best Health Blog Contest!](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/contest_header_final.jpg)
Help Us Win Healthline’s Best Health Blog Contest!
We've been nominated for Healthline's Best Health Blog Contest! We need your vote to win! The contest lasts from November 22 - December 12, 2016. You can vote once per day, every day, during that time. Please take a minute to vote for us: 1. Go...
![Learning To Be Present](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/10-Little-Positive-Habits-that-Can-Change-Your-Life.jpg)
Learning To Be Present
It’s been months since my last full scale manic episode. However, the road to today has been paved with mixed episodes, depression, and frustrating medication changes. Some days I despair that life is passing me by whilst I wrestle with the utter exhaustion of having...
![Fear For How Divided My Country Has Become](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/anxiety-election-country-divided_0.jpg)
Fear For How Divided My Country Has Become
Editor’s Note: The views and opinions in this blog are the author’s and do not represent those of International Bipolar Foundation. The 2016 US election has been stressful for many people, and our bloggers often write about stressful events in their lives and how they...
![Bipolar Disorder And Work](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/woman-hand-smartphone-desk.jpg)
Bipolar Disorder And Work
Help us win Healthline's Best Health Blog of the Year! Vote for International Bipolar Foundation here. Having been diagnosed with bipolar disorder in the year 2009, I have struggled with coping, not only with my mood and personal life, but also with my professional...
![Tips For Traveling Easier When You Have Bipolar Disorder](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Travel-Easier-blog.jpg)
Tips For Traveling Easier When You Have Bipolar Disorder
Help us win Healthline's Best Health Blog of the Year! Vote for International Bipolar Foundation here. Traveling can be difficult for everyone, even more so for those that struggle with mental health conditions. Between packing, leaving your normal schedule, the...
![New Life, New Love In Recovery: The Best Ways To Begin (And Keep) Your Relationship Strong](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Copy-of-Copy-of-Insta-Blog-Template-19.png)
New Life, New Love In Recovery: The Best Ways To Begin (And Keep) Your Relationship Strong
Remission and recovery from any mental illness, addiction, or both, bring with them, for most of us entirely new gifts. Some of us are fortunate enough to find a whole new way of living, one which we have never experienced or imagined possible. Not all days are easy,...
![Questions About Bipolar My Friends Always Wanted To Ask](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/questions-bipolar-disorder.jpg)
Questions About Bipolar My Friends Always Wanted To Ask
I have been very open about my diagnosis and journey to recovery and acceptance. I started my blog to chronicle the ups and downs that I experience during my journey. Recently my friends were open enough to ask me questions they have always wanted to know about living...
![Up? Down? How About Both At Once?](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/see-saw-mixed-states-bipolar_0.jpg)
Up? Down? How About Both At Once?
People who live with bipolar disorder grow used to – or at least familiar with – the cycle of manic highs and depressive lows. But what happens when the highs and lows come closer and closer together? What happens when they both occur at the same time? There are...
![Coping With The Election Outcome: My Story](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/coping-with-election.png)
Coping With The Election Outcome: My Story
Author’s note: This post has political content, though my intent in publishing the article is to share what was for me a very big stressor (and how I dealt with it). I couldn’t figure out a way to tell the story effectively without including some of my political...
![How To Stay In Touch With Reality During Psychosis](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/girl-1575756_960_720_0.jpg)
How To Stay In Touch With Reality During Psychosis
If you have experienced psychosis, you know that it’s a very hard thing to explain to someone who has never experienced it before. When you are in a state of psychosis, it’s extremely hard to be able to tell yourself what is happening to you, and it can be even more...
![Glorious You](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/clouds-872143_960_720.jpg)
Glorious You
Trigger Warning: Rape Mention I was sitting in the room, a computer, a plant, and two chairs beside me. I was crying so hard; I didn’t want to tell anyone. I refused to. I knew it would break this person’s heart and I could not watch that happen. My psychiatrist has...
![Diagnosis And Self-Identity](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/borderline-personality-disorder-bipolar-self-identity.jpg)
Diagnosis And Self-Identity
What does it mean to me, in terms of self-identity, to have a dual-diagnosis of bipolar type II disorder (classified as a “mood” disorder) and borderline personality disorder (classified as a “personality” disorder)? I looked up the (psychology) definition of the word...
![Prioritizing Veterans’ Mental Health](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/veteran_0.jpg)
Prioritizing Veterans’ Mental Health
Veteran support is an important aspect of mental health. Many veterans come back from serving their country and suffer from both physical and mental issues. Some don't understand what is happening to them or don't want to admit what is happening. This means that many...
![Staying In-Patient In A Psychiatric Ward](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/hospital-1338584_960_720.jpg)
Staying In-Patient In A Psychiatric Ward
My bedroom was full of figures. I knew I wasn’t dreaming – I was wide awake and had the light on. The noises were extra loud. I thought the hourly trains were blowing their horns over and over. The airport was louder than ever as well, with planes taking off...
![PTSD: Feeling Like I’m Trapped In A Nightmare](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel.jpg)
PTSD: Feeling Like I’m Trapped In A Nightmare
I’m a girl who has been trapped in a nightmare for the last twelve years. I have bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, anxiety, and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). My drowning in despair started when my mother passed away in 2004. The diseases were...
![Poem: Admission Into Hospital](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/admission-to-hospital-poem.jpg)
Poem: Admission Into Hospital
The bangs of my head felt somewhat hollow against the cold hospital walls, for some odd reason, everything feels cold here. The cold grasp of the nurses hands as she tried to comfort me back to sanity. But dear God, what IS sanity in it’s most organic form? Is it like...
![Poem: Madness](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/madnesss-lightening.png)
Poem: Madness
The vile potion of madness struck her like a lightening bolt gone astray. For what are we more than but a misty cloud roaming the night sky in the search for a shining star to give us the light and hope we are forever searching for. She walks the streets alone, every...
![Poem: An Open Letter To The Hurting Souls](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/hurting-souls.jpg)
Poem: An Open Letter To The Hurting Souls
To all the hurting souls, My leaps and twirls; do they travel to you? That enduring energy flowing through the crisp air; do you eat it? When it rains, my dear, I dance in it. I laugh as the rain drops fall upon my nose. Do you feel the rhythm transcend through my...
![The Ghost Of Thanksgiving Past: How Untreated Bipolar Disorder Traumatized My Family](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Thanksgiving-Past-Photo.jpg)
The Ghost Of Thanksgiving Past: How Untreated Bipolar Disorder Traumatized My Family
“Oh my God,” my sister said, “you sounded just like Dad when you screamed at your wife during an argument!” She said that my head turned in a certain way just like our dad’s used to when he was in one of his frequent rages. “I thought he rose from the dead for a...
![No Time For You](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/make-time-for-yourself.jpg)
No Time For You
Living with mental illness is hard enough without outside interference, but no one can avoid the outside interference of everyday life. Whether you work full time, go to school, have hectic family lives, or any combination of these things; they all add more weight to...
![It’s All Good](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/woman-happiness-sunrise-silhouette-40192.jpeg)
It’s All Good
I am a mom of three kids – four if you count my bipolar disorder, which can act just as (if not more) juvenile than my kids sometimes. I also take care of my two aging in-laws; they are both 73 years old. Then, of course, I am a wife. I take two medications for my...
![Journalists Should Be Educated About Mental Health](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/6276688407_12900948a2_b.jpg)
Journalists Should Be Educated About Mental Health
The year is 2000. I’m working as a journalist in a small Connecticut shoreline town. I’m barely hanging on. My brain is shorting out. No one on or off staff knows how to help me. During this time, I would stay up all night working on stories, then come into work the...
![A To Z Guide To Stress Management For People With Bipolar Disorder, Part 6: Find Flow](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Find-Flow.png)
A To Z Guide To Stress Management For People With Bipolar Disorder, Part 6: Find Flow
This is the sixth 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 three-part series, “Getting a Handle...
![Parenting With Bipolar](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Will-2013-020-2.jpg)
Parenting With Bipolar
Being a parent and having a bipolar diagnosis is hard. Before I was diagnosed with bipolar, my world revolved around parenting. As a stay at home mom, that was my job. I would have to say I was a really good parent at that time. My son was my pride and joy. He always...
![Poem: The Warrior](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/warrior.jpg)
Poem: The Warrior
She rubbed her pretty little eyes with cold clenched fists, and collapsed to her knees in angst and defeat on the cold and dust plagued cement. There was dust everywhere, it seemed, in every fraction of the air there was at least 10 million dust particles filling the...
![How I Built My Support System](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/shoulder-to-cry-on-2.jpg)
How I Built My Support System
“Get a support system.” That seems to be the number one thing I have heard since being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I would look at doctors and therapists and tell them I didn’t have anyone. What about family? No. Spouse? No. Friends? They wouldn’t understand. I...
![Meth’s Misery And Mental Illness: A Deadly Combination](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/meth.jpg)
Meth’s Misery And Mental Illness: A Deadly Combination
This is a painfully personal blog post. I considered writing the sub-title as “Meth and Madness” to balance two one-word nouns, but “madness” is a stigmatizing word, in my opinion. This is a personal blog post because six members of my family (immediate and extended)...
![Accepting My Bipolar Diagnosis](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Untitled-design-52.png)
Accepting My Bipolar Diagnosis
A year and a half ago, I submitted myself to a series of psychological assessments. It wasn’t my first experience with the mental health field. I’d been to treatment facilities and therapy in the past because of anorexia. But I knew something was going on, something...
![Dear Future Manic Self](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/when-the-world-is-too-bright.jpeg)
Dear Future Manic Self
This is Part 5 in a 5-Part Series: "When the World is Too Bright: An Intensive View of Mania from On the Ground" (Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 here) Dear Future Manic Krystal, Mania and you go together like peanut butter and jelly. After five manias in...
![Pet Therapy and Mania](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/pet.jpg)
Pet Therapy and Mania
This is Part 4 in a 5-Part Series: "When the World is Too Bright: An Intensive View of Mania from On the Ground" (Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 5 here) I moved back home with my mother a few years ago for financial reasons. Now that I’m back in graduate...
![Mania Haikus: Using The Heightened Creativity To Process My Episode](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/aa.jpg)
Mania Haikus: Using The Heightened Creativity To Process My Episode
This is Part 2 in a 5-Part Series: "When the World is Too Bright: An Intensive View of Mania from On the Ground" (Read Part 1, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5 here) I recently came across the poetry of Nayyirah Waheed. I follow her on Instagram and she posts beautiful,...
![Mania #5: What, How, Why](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/z.jpg)
Mania #5: What, How, Why
This is Part 1 in a 5-Part Series: "When the World is Too Bright: An Intensive View of Mania from On the Ground" (Read Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5 here) This is my fifth mania in the nine years since I have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. However, just...
![Bipolar Disorder And Financial Burden](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/y.jpg)
Bipolar Disorder And Financial Burden
Having been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, I have not only been feeling physically, emotionally, and mentally ill, but financially as well. The cost of medicine is sickening considering that I need to buy it for maintenance. I work as a teacher in the Philippines,...
![Know Your Triggers](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Untitled-design-55.png)
Know Your Triggers
Episodes can occur in patients with bipolar disorder for numerous reasons; sometimes episodes occur for no known reason at all. I have learned to pay attention to my triggers so I can try to stay ahead of my episodes; sometimes it’s helpful, sometimes it’s not. I also...
![How It All Began](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/w.jpg)
How It All Began
If I could tell myself anything when it all started, it would be the following: ‘Reach out to your parents and tell them what’s going on with you emotionally. Lean on your family for help. They will be very understanding and supportive; they only want what’s best for...
![You’re Beautiful, What Do You Have To Be Depressed About?](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/v.jpg)
You’re Beautiful, What Do You Have To Be Depressed About?
To the girl who told me I was beautiful, so what do I have to be depressed about? I remember one time that I shared a personal story about depression on my Facebook page. This was one girl’s comment on the story: “Please don't share such things on Facebook. You are...
![Survivor Stories: Removing The Element Of Shame Is Essential In Helping In The Fight Against Addiction](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/u.jpg)
Survivor Stories: Removing The Element Of Shame Is Essential In Helping In The Fight Against Addiction
There is a saying: Love the person struggling with addiction, hate the disease. The root of this mentality is to fight against the stigma associated with addiction, because more often than not, it’s the lack of conversation that can contribute to the problem. If we as...
![Fatherhood With Bipolar Disorder](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/t.jpg)
Fatherhood With Bipolar Disorder
There has been no greater motivation for my recovery than fatherhood. Alone, I could go for long stretches of mood dysregulation. Even married, I was afforded the opportunity to sleep excessively and spend large amounts of time devoted to my self-care. Such privileges...
![What Is A Good Parent?](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/s.jpeg)
What Is A Good Parent?
Have you ever been out shopping and witnessed a child have one of those nuclear meltdown kind of tantrums? The parent is obviously embarrassed and frustrated and they must take action. They can reprimand the child, they can snatch them up by the arm and hurry away or...
The Misconceptions About Mental Illness And The Stigma That Surrounds It
By Kimberly Lifton No one would ever say, “It is just cancer. Get over it.” So why does society stigmatize people who suffer from mental illness? How come when people have a mental illness, society perceives them as if they are monsters? Why can every other organ in...
Stigma: The Societal Beast
By Jennifer Peterson Like a shadow, it cannot be shaken. It hides in corners and feasts in the dark, preying on its victims from afar. It alters their minds, forever distorting the way in which they view their own self worth. It devours confidence, crumbling it into...
![Why Did I Have A Block On My Spirituality?](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/r.jpg)
Why Did I Have A Block On My Spirituality?
“The only true joy on earth is to escape from the prison of our own false self, and enter by love into union with the Life Who dwells and sings within the essence of every creature and in the core of our own souls…” - Thomas Merton To say that I grew up in a very...
![Allison Clemmons](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/q.jpg)
Allison Clemmons
Allison Clemmons was born and raised in the South. Allison likes to refer to herself as "a southern lady, raised by a far better southern lady." She is an only child to two very attentive and loving parents who loved her very much, but never really understood her...
![The Wooden Heart](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/p.jpg)
The Wooden Heart
Our hearts are packed with medicine, our eyes are blinded of dismay and anguished distance between life itself and the voices in our minds that tell us not to try, not to live, not to survive. The doctors tattoo a label upon our head that feeds itself into our blood...
![Reclaiming Recovery After A Crisis](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/o.jpg)
Reclaiming Recovery After A Crisis
It’s inevitable at times for something to happen that will shatter the beautiful recovery we’ve worked so hard to maintain. This is life. Reclaiming that recovery after a crisis will happen, but it may take some time. I recently had to deal with a few crises that...
![Let’s Talk Psychosis](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/n.jpg)
Let’s Talk Psychosis
Why don’t we talk more about psychosis from bipolar disorder? I am an avid reader. I read a ton of articles and blogs written by bipolar mental health advocates. What I’ve recently realized is that there is a lot written about mania and depression, but not much...
![#DearTeenageMe, Remember Where You’ve Been And How Far You’ve Come](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/m.jpg)
#DearTeenageMe, Remember Where You’ve Been And How Far You’ve Come
Learn more about #DearTeenageMe at http://sayitforwardcampaign.org/ I graduated from high school 14 years ago. It seems like a lifetime ago. I was a good student, I had friends, I experienced “teenage angst”, moments where I thought “my life was over” because I had a...
![Running Free](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/l.jpg)
Running Free
Pound! Pound! Pound! Her heart beat echoing throughout her body; she’s running to meet amends. Her arms sway quickly beside her knocking the leaves from the trees on the side of the path, they fall briefly from the tree, up into the air and onto the earth’s ground...
![Wake-Up Call To Society](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/k.jpg)
Wake-Up Call To Society
In the year 2009, I gave birth to my son. After this event in my life, my suffering began. I started to find it hard to sleep at night. I often would stay awake each night staring at the ceiling of my room. It lasted for about a week and I began to have hallucinations...
![Into The Abyss](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/j.jpg)
Into The Abyss
My name is Roger and I have Bipolar. This was written a week ago, just after the painting was completed. There are times when I am in the “high” of a mania and there are times when I am in the “low” of depression. This painting depicts that frightening time when I am...
![Memory Loss And My Plan Of Action](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/i.png)
Memory Loss And My Plan Of Action
I have no memory. Alright, I'm being a little tongue in cheek here. But, most days I really do feel like I have no memory. Who knows when it began. I've always had some memory retention issues growing up. It drove everyone around me batty. I can't say as I liked it...
![#DearTeenageMe, Tell Your Story](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/h.jpg)
#DearTeenageMe, Tell Your Story
Learn more about #DearTeenageMe at http://sayitforwardcampaign.org/ My journey through bipolar disorder started genetically, but wasn’t kicked off symptomatically until the major traumatic event that could shatter any teenager’s life. My mother died suddenly of a...
![3 Misconceptions About Bipolar I Wish Someone Had Corrected For Me](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/bipolar-misconception.jpg)
3 Misconceptions About Bipolar I Wish Someone Had Corrected For Me
Help us win Healthline's Best Health Blog of the Year! Vote for International Bipolar Foundation here. I was diagnosed with bipolar type I disorder when I was twenty-three after experiencing nine years of symptoms, a diagnosis of depression, and then a diagnosis of...
![#DearTeenageMe, Break The Sound Of Silence](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/break-silence.jpg)
#DearTeenageMe, Break The Sound Of Silence
Learn more about #DearTeenageMe at http://sayitforwardcampaign.org/ Do you remember the song “Sound of Silence”? The one we used to sing with Dad? Remember how we always thought it was about being quiet and not making any noise no matter what we were feeling? That's...
![#DearTeenageMe, Don’t Be Ashamed](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/g.jpg)
#DearTeenageMe, Don’t Be Ashamed
Learn more about #DearTeenageMe at http://sayitforwardcampaign.org/ Dear scared Ros, I know you tried it again last night, like you try every week. You spend hours crying and pouring your emotions into your little black book hoping that someone will finally hear your...
![What I Wish I Knew Before I Was Diagnosed With Bipolar](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/wish-i-knew-bipolar.jpg)
What I Wish I Knew Before I Was Diagnosed With Bipolar
I was born in the mid 1950’s when mental illness just wasn’t talked about. I wish that I could have had advice about the bipolar disorder I struggled with prior to my diagnosis. Perhaps it would have brought some ease to the fear I was experiencing. If my parents had...
![#DearTeenageMe, This Is Not Your Fault](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/e.jpg)
#DearTeenageMe, This Is Not Your Fault
If the teenage Sarah knew what 27 year old Sarah knows now, I believe this bipolar journey could have been a lot less painful. But when I’m tempted to dwell on how much farther ahead I could be had I been more prepared to live life with a mental illness, I remind...
![Do I Have To Take Meds Forever?](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/d.jpg)
Do I Have To Take Meds Forever?
I can't give you the answer you want, because the real answer is "Probably. You will most likely require psychotropic medication for the rest of your life." (I'll get to that "most likely” in a bit.) Personally, I don't see what's so bad about taking meds. Is it our...
![Discerning Differences In Displays Of Love](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/c.jpg)
Discerning Differences In Displays Of Love
My father was a man of very few words. The only exceptions were hilarious dad jokes and long conversations with my mother -- conversations that looked so pretty that I wished to have some like them in my life. Since he didn’t talk much, I can't start with a quote of...
![#DearTeenageMe, You’re A Stronger Person Than You Think](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/b.jpg)
#DearTeenageMe, You’re A Stronger Person Than You Think
Carrie was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at age 28, though she experienced clinical depression for the first time as a teenager. She knew something was seriously wrong but wasn’t able to get help at that time. Carrie wrote the following letter to her 17-year-old...
![Memory… I Can’t Seem To Find It…](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/a.jpg)
Memory… I Can’t Seem To Find It…
When I was in my 20s (I'm 37 now), my bipolar depression got so severe that the docs decided it was time to try ECT, Electroconvulsive Therapy. In the old days, they called it “shock therapy”. The premise is sound: if you cause a 10-60 second seizure in the brain, in...
![My Path To Acceptance](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/For-there-is-nothing-lost-that-may-be-found-if-sought-edmund-spencer.jpg)
My Path To Acceptance
I keep hearing the word acceptance when it comes to living with bipolar. But what exactly does it mean to me? A doctor once told me acceptance means acknowledging a fact, but not necessarily being “ok” with it. I was uncertain so I looked it up. Acceptance is defined...
![My Story For Suicide Prevention Month](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/suicide-prevention.jpg)
My Story For Suicide Prevention Month
September is Suicide Prevention Month. This is my story of my suicide attempt on September 12, 2014. I have chosen to share this to raise awareness – it has never been told before. Blink. “One, two, three.” My limp body slid to the ER table. Blink. The bright light....
![#DearTeenageMe, Don’t Wait To Get Help](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Dont-Wait-to-Get-Help.jpg)
#DearTeenageMe, Don’t Wait To Get Help
Learn more about #DearTeenageMe at http://sayitforwardcampaign.org/. I know junior high was rough, and high school is only going to be rougher. By now you've realized that you're different from most of the other kids – they've told you so, but they didn't have to....
![#DearTeenageMe, Your Friends Will Support You](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Your-Friends-Will-Support-You.jpg)
#DearTeenageMe, Your Friends Will Support You
Learn more about #DearTeenageMe at http://sayitforwardcampaign.org/. Remember freshman year of college at the Fall Health Fair? A man at a table handed you a piece of paper and asked you to take a depression screening; they were encouraging all incoming freshman to...
![From My Bipolar Present To My Youth Of Yesteryear](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/dear-bp-me.jpg)
From My Bipolar Present To My Youth Of Yesteryear
Dear Amy, I want you to know there will be times in your life when you will struggle with a mental illness called bipolar disorder. I know it sounds complicated, and the truth is, it is. It is complex because we are talking about your brain. However, if you learn...
![Think You Have Bipolar Disorder?](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/think-you-have-bp.jpg)
Think You Have Bipolar Disorder?
I remember the period before I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder as a seriously confusing, conflicting time. If you are unsure if you have any mental illness, you probably feel very confused and conflicted also. But the best thing I ever did was get help, and you...
![#DearTeenageMe, Mental Illness Can Have Physical Symptoms, Don’t Ignore Them](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Physical-Symptoms.jpg)
#DearTeenageMe, Mental Illness Can Have Physical Symptoms, Don’t Ignore Them
My experience with bipolar disorder had two long difficult periods of extreme symptoms separated by many years of only dealing with depression. The following story is about how I decided to go back to treatment after many years away. I was first diagnosed at 17 after...
![Self-Image and Bipolar Disorder](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Self-Image-and-Bipolar-Disorder-graphic.png)
Self-Image and Bipolar Disorder
From the time we can talk, people begin asking us what we want to be when we grow up. My answers were usually one of the following: ballerina, model, actress, doctor, nurse, painter, art therapist, occupational therapist, photographer, illustrator, writer. I wanted to...
![Ready For Romance With Bipolar Disorder?](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/romance-and-bipolar.jpg)
Ready For Romance With Bipolar Disorder?
Relationships are hard, with or without bipolar disorder, but adding bipolar disorder to the mix just makes it feel that much harder. Before either rushing into a relationship, or avoiding them altogether, you might find it useful to hear a bit of advice from someone...
![Why Keeping A Positive Attitude Matters In Spite Of Depression](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/positivity-depression.jpg)
Why Keeping A Positive Attitude Matters In Spite Of Depression
It is frustrating to live with depression. I get it. I walk to the beat of humming depression almost every day. It is even more frustrating to take a handful of medications that still do not eliminate my symptoms entirely. What helps me feel better is that I try very...
![Reading And Writing As My Therapy For Bipolar Disorder](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/reading-therapy.jpg)
Reading And Writing As My Therapy For Bipolar Disorder
Art, music, modelling, and crafts - these are just some examples of activities that people with bipolar disorder have been using as personal therapy. I enjoy all of these creative outlets, but there are two things in particular that I have been doing to keep myself...
![Coping With Bipolar Spending](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/swim-for-new-horizons-lose-sight-shore-faulkner.jpg)
Coping With Bipolar Spending
Impulsivity is a common symptom of mania, and it can present itself in different ways depending on the person. I tend to talk excessively or start new, often costly projects. I make a lot of poor decisions because I am not thinking clearly. My thoughts race, leaping...
![7 Things Only People With Bipolar Will Understand](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/7-Things-Only-People-With-Bipolar-Understand.jpg)
7 Things Only People With Bipolar Will Understand
1. Explaining to people that there is a difference between “moody” and “bipolar” I had told a colleague that I have bipolar and she laughed. When she saw that I wasn’t laughing with her, she asked me if I was serious with my claim. This is very common for me....
![Noise Sensitivity During Mania](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/noise-sensitivity-bipolar-mania-e1480959493873.jpeg)
Noise Sensitivity During Mania
Loud noises bother me to the point of rage during certain moods. If I am near switching moods to mania, the noise will send me into mania quicker and launch a case of full-blown rage. I also think the constant assault on my ears can trigger an episode of mania even if...
![Facing Trials By Embracing Optimism](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/worrying-takes-away-todays-peace.jpg)
Facing Trials By Embracing Optimism
These past few years have been a season of waiting and stress for our family. My husband has struggled to find a permanent job, which has left us with no real sense of where we will settle down and start to build a life. The uncertainty of the situation has produced...
![Balancing Care For Others And Yourself](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/help-friend-crisis.png)
Balancing Care For Others And Yourself
One part of being a mental health advocate that I pride myself on is being a walking pamphlet of resources for people struggling with mental health and being able to help them help themselves. As a student on Binghamton University’s campus, I am well known among my...
![Bipolar Disorder: Benefits And Difficulties Of Routines](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/routines-bipolar-disorder.jpg)
Bipolar Disorder: Benefits And Difficulties Of Routines
Besides medication, there are several ways an individual can help ease the symptoms of bipolar disorder. One of those is by establishing and maintaining a regular routine. There are a lot of benefits to routines and schedules. However, it can be difficult for some of...
![Facing The Truth](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/storm-bipolar-disorder.jpg)
Facing The Truth
Her blinders have been removed click here She has taken her gloves off and removed her coat She sits in stillness with peaceful knowing Knowing from the soul Inspired by the spirit The storm came along with no warning It whirled and twirled devastation Leaving...
![A To Z Guide To Stress Management For People With Bipolar Disorder, Part 5: Develop Emotional Awareness](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/emotional-awareness-e1480957581166.png)
A To Z Guide To Stress Management For People With Bipolar Disorder, Part 5: Develop Emotional Awareness
This is the fourth 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 three-part series, “Getting a Handle...
![When Your Diagnosis Changes](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/diagnosis-change-bipolar-.jpg)
When Your Diagnosis Changes
You don't have bipolar disorder. I can't even begin to describe the feelings that came over me when I heard my newest diagnosis. You don't have bipolar disorder. You don't have anxiety disorder. You don't have OCD. After living for 10+ years...
![“Take Care of Your Garden”](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/bipolar_garden.jpg)
“Take Care of Your Garden”
I wanted to write about the importance of communicating with your doctors about medications. These medications your doctor prescribes you are there to help you, not to make you feel numb or out of touch with the world. From my experience, I have been on...
![There’s Nothing Romantic About Mental Illnesses](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Adobe-Spark-8-1.jpg)
There’s Nothing Romantic About Mental Illnesses
We have seen a lot of movies that put the spotlight on mental illness. Movies like "Girl, Interrupted," "Prozac Nation," "Rain Man" and very recently, "Silver Linings Playbook" and "Infinite Polar Bear," to name a few. These movies portray what it is like to have...
![judgMENTAL](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/zaeli_judgmental-1.jpg)
judgMENTAL
Above: mixed media on canvas by Zaeli Eliza“You're making mental illness as if it's a big deal!” “You talk too much about it. You're glamorizing your illness!” “You don't need medication. It's all in your head.” “Think positive. Toughen it up.” Clichés, I...
![Learning to Manage a Manic Mind](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/rsz_anger_bipolar-1.jpg)
Learning to Manage a Manic Mind
If you walked into my house right now, this is what you would see: dishes piling up, laundry in piles waiting to be folded, a dirty floor and me in bed.It’s happening again. I’m having another manic episode. This one, though, is different. Maybe it’s the empty house...
![My Thoughts as a Person With Bipolar](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/rsz_thoughts_bipolar.jpg)
My Thoughts as a Person With Bipolar
Having been diagnosed as a manic depressive in 2009, I have had my roller coaster ride on this illness. My brain starts to function in such a manner that no one could ever understand or fathom the swings in my moods and behavior. As a person with bipolar disorder...
![SOS: Saving Your Sinking Ship](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/rsz_sos_bipolar_ship.jpg)
SOS: Saving Your Sinking Ship
Imagine you’re sailing on a ship full speed ahead to your next destination with naught a care in the world. All of a sudden, the ship springs a leak. It’s a small leak, so you patch it and continue to sail on. You don’t go much further before that small leak turns...
![A Journey Through Mania and Back](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/manic_trip.jpg)
A Journey Through Mania and Back
My name is Nicole, but most people call me Nic. Mostly because its easier and faster to say, but also because Australians are fond of a nickname.I have bipolar disorder Type 1 and am presently recovering from another lengthy manic episode. I could try and put a...
![The Working Wounded: Bipolar Disorder on the Job](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/rsz_bipolar_work.jpg)
The Working Wounded: Bipolar Disorder on the Job
This Labor Day has brought back a gloomy memory. Youve failed at everything youve ever done, Daddy, and youve been sick all of my life. Those stinging words came from my then 27-year-old son. He regretted saying that to me and apologized the next day. My...
![Dealing with Anger](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/anger-bipolar-disorder.jpg)
Dealing with Anger
I have learned over time how to express anger. Its taken me a while to figure this out. For the longest time I have thought that expressing anger meant that there was going to be an aggressive confrontation, which scares me. I am afraid of all forms of confrontation;...
![Bipolar Warrior vs. Bipolar Sufferer](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Screen-Shot-2016-08-30-at-1.42.13-PM.png)
Bipolar Warrior vs. Bipolar Sufferer
I am an avid Instagram user. I love taking photographs of everything, whether its my meals, my outfits (aka #ootd - outfit of the day), my travels or my outings. Just in case youre not familiar with the app, on Instagram, the user can include a brief bio at the top...
![Facing a Psychiatric Hospitalization](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/psychiatric_ward_bipolar.jpeg)
Facing a Psychiatric Hospitalization
I was sitting in my psychiatrists office recently in a large, oversized chair staring at the slightly crooked pictures on the wall. A boat. A beach. African figures. I could hear the ticking of the clock as I scanned the piles of books and patient records underneath,...
![Finding Your Strengths](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/findingyourstrengths.jpg)
Finding Your Strengths
Recently, on an Australian website called the Black Dog Institute (very helpful, search it up), I registered for a program called the 6 Week Bite Back Challenge to help individuals find gratitude and happiness. One of the weeks tested strengths and virtues. It is a...
![The Guilt I Felt When My Daughter Was Diagnosed With Bipolar](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/pass-on-bipolar-to-kids.png)
The Guilt I Felt When My Daughter Was Diagnosed With Bipolar
I have bipolar disorder, anxiety, PTSD and OCD. It’s not easy living with me sometimes, especially if I forget to take my meds. I also have a history of drug and alcohol abuse. I am 41 years old, and I have spent most of the first 40 years stretching my body and mind...
![Pushed to The Brink](https://ibpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/addiction_suicide_bipolar.jpg)
Pushed to The Brink
When I wrote about my bipolar disorder, anxiety and PTSD, I thought it was the hardest thing I did. But now I realise that what Im writing about today is the hardest thing I have ever done. The only reason this has taken me so long is the same reason why I kept quiet...
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Sharing lessons from personal experiences, time-saving tips, and helpful strategies to support you or your caregiver and navigate a bipolar diagnosis.
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Hear from Major General Gregg Martin about his battle with bipolar disorder, and learn more about how you can support service members & veterans mental health.