My name is Mary and my current diagnosis is bipolar II disorder. What this means is that I have periods of a state that is called mania which can last for hours, days or weeks. Mania is different in everyone but for me it appears in a variety of characteristics such as bursts of energy, irritability, flights of ideas, impulsiveness, etc. Sometimes mania can actually feel fun and at other times it can be dangerous. During the energetic mania if someone asks me how I’m doing I am fabulous! I feel like a rock star who can keep a perfectly clean house, teach and take dance classes every day, soar with a home business, write a novel and maybe even solve world hunger if I have some extra time after all of that! Many people in life are energetic and driven, at the same time the difference for me with the mania is that there is a strong compulsiveness behind the energy. There is a frantic drive behind it that I can’t seem to stop.

Keep reading

Hi my name is Jodi.  I was diagnosed with depression when I was 17 and Bipolar Type 2 disorder and generalized anxiety disorder when I was 26.  I can remember being a child and always being very emotional and as a teen having extreme mood swings added into the mix.

Keep reading

I experienced severe depression and anxiety beginning in the 6th grade and found treatment to be very difficult on me emotionally and physically.

It was not until my therapist recommended a place in Utah that I found a little bit of clarity but enough to lead me forward in life. I have bipolar type two with some psychosis symptoms so the regimen is Abilify and Trileptal, with periodic psychiatric care and cognitive therapy.

Although my illnesses are a part of me, they are not completely me. I am so much more than my past, my failures and acknowledging this will only free me to more than I could have been before. I believe in goodness and hope and healing and that one can find it but also pursue it actively and not only bless the sometimes difficult journey we walk but also those around us who need this hope themselves! 

My name is Lesia and I am a 45 year old White Caucasian with an ethnic background of Polish, Russian, Hungarian, and French.  I have recently joined NAMI and am inspired to share my story with all of you.  It has been incredible reading some of your stories.  

For me, I have bipolar II, general anxiety disorder, substance abuse, and possibly some more symptoms which I have yet to identify.  I have struggled tremendously with my anxiety and bi-polar since I was a child.  I was extremely shy and felt like I never fit with my family or anyone.  I would have suicidal thoughts, sick crazy thinking that shocks me to this day, it is even here hard to talk about.  

Keep reading

It’s not easy living a life with Bipolar II and Borderline Personality Disorder when you’re trying to keep a family together and a marriage. So many ups and downs contribute to and deteriorate many aspects of just being me. My reactions affect others, my opinions or thoughts are sometimes “out there”. I get “only you” comments that make me feel like this is my fault, something I’m able to control. I can only do so much if my depression doesn’t get in the way. I can’t cry normally because I have a panic attack if I do. Sometimes I feel alone in this sometimes I don’t. I belong to several support groups online and I’m blessed to have these people in my life because they seem to be the only ones that understand. 

“Don’t worry about walking a mile in my shoes, just try a day thinking in my head” - Unknown

My name is Tess and I am an adjunct professor of English and creative going on twelve years now.   My diagnosis has two components: BPD and Bipolar II disorder.  And my personal history is not unlike most the textbook example. I have no emotional skin.  I used to describe it as having my insides where the outside should be.  Everything exposed and vulnerable to the elements. According to Marsha Linehan’s definition I was an “emotional burn victim.”  I didn’t know that there were others like me when I was young, others who struggled with suicidal depression and alienation the way I did.  At the age of eight I was raped by a neighbor. It was also the year I learned that people who were in the kind of pain I was in had found a permanent solution for escaping these feelings.  A friend’s mother had died that year.  And I remember lying on the grass looking up at the sky at some point pondering the phrase as I heard it:  "sewer side.“   I imagined a sadness so deep that it could pull you down a storm drain…just wash you out to sea to disappear.  

Keep reading

Bipolar Disorder is said to be one of the worst diagnoses one can receive. I disagree with this statement for a few reasons, and while my personal experience with it has been far from pleasant, I hope to convey that there are many benefits as well as disadvantages to living with this brand of mental illness.

I originally thought that I suffered from Depression, back when I was in my early 20’s. I remember the day when the elation suddenly went away and all the joy drained away from my life. Everything in my vision shrunk down to a pinpoint and was shrouded with a thick miasma. I lived with this for two years before finally going to the doctor.

Keep reading

My doctor described my diagnosis to me in this way: I’m a 78 RPM person trying to function in a 33 1/3 world. For you baby boomers, you’ll know what I mean. If you’re younger than a baby boomer and don’t understand the analogy, ask your parents to explain it to you.

When I’m manic, I’m like the energizer bunny. Always going. Creating something. Wanting something. 

Right after I got diagnosed, I jumped into crafts and started making these little wooden window seats.

I didn’t create one or two, or a few. I created dozens. And dozens. And boxes full. I obsessed over getting every single wooden window seat in the Tampa area so I could make something out of it. Then I wanted a puppy. (Thank goodness my husband saw fit to tell me no at that time) Then I jumped into soap making. I made pounds and pounds of soap. (All of this is in less than a week.)

Keep reading

Hello, my name is E, I am 31 and was diagnosed with Bipolar II 5 months ago.

Keep reading

And I knew I wasn’t right 

So I planned on going that Friday night 

And I knew I wasn’t okay

Making it the perfect place for me to stay 

See, for most, a mental hospital isn’t a choice 

It’s one of those things where you are left without a voice 

Brought there suddenly against your will

Then before you know it, you are given a bunch of random pills 

But for me, it was where I was supposed to be

Keep reading