
Is There Life After Diagnosis: Finding Myself after Learning I Have Bipolar
This mental health recovery story focuses on Alexis’s journey with bipolar and how she learned to manage her mental health without making it who she is entirely.
This mental health recovery story focuses on Alexis’s journey with bipolar and how she learned to manage her mental health without making it who she is entirely.
by Don Walin
Former pro golfer Don Walin writes openly about his bipolar disorder, including some of his manic episodes during his life and career.
Jason Schreurs would sit with his eyes bloodshot against the computer screen late into the night, forging connections on social media. Eventually, this obsession put him in the hospital.
Javier Ortega-Araiza was feeling suicidal, and it wasn’t the first time that happened. His essay talks about his mental health recovery.
by Lena Walton
Lena Walton was always shushed by society—no talking about her undiagnosed bipolar disorder, nor about independence as a woman. Only now, following a breakdown, is Lena finally beginning to understand herself.
Christina faced issues with addiction and the law, due to underlying mental issues, eventually with the proper help and diagnosis she learned to tackle these issues.
Cheyenne Ruiz spent much of her adolescence fighting panic attacks, working through depression, and pretending hallucinations weren’t happening. One hallucination pushed her to take recovery into her own hands.
Aneta Dabrowska felt the ups and downs of bipolar type II as a teenager, but no one around her knew how to react. When she entered adulthood, Aneta set on a journey to understand her illness on her own terms.
The national fatigue and anxiety caused by the COVID-19 pandemic felt all too familiar to Jennifer, who is diagnosed with bipolar and has experienced mania.
Shortly after her first hospitalization and diagnosis of bipolar, Jocelyn fell into a deep depression. While in the hospital, Jocelyn was guided by the beauty of an orchid, sitting on her window sill. Jocelyn found ways to find beauty day to day to help cope with depression and diagnosis, along with therapy and medication. Read more about her story!
Thomas Duliban loves to share with people; but what’s acceptable to share of his autism, his OCD, his bipolar diagnoses?
by Evelyn Sachs
Evelyn Sachs won’t stand for electroconvulsive therapy being just another cheap “Cuckoo’s Nest” reference; it has helped with her bipolar depression.
Jason Schreurs zig-zags through different moments in his life, finding both clarity and confusion throughout. It all coalesces with one surprise diagnosis.
Leigh Abraham spent much of his life thinking his failures belonged to him, but not his accomplishments. Then he found baseball.
As a child, Brianna attempted to find ways to control the emotions and experiences that she did not feel in control of, how Brianna’s diagnosis and treatment helped her to understand her moods.
When faced with a multi-faceted stack of mental health obstacles, Ethan Sunny Swift survives through self-reflection and helping others.
Ed Kozempel is a hero who understands the power of music and doesn’t let paranoid schizophrenia or bipolar get between him and his flute.
Casey Cannizzaro is a brilliant writer who lives in a world of addiction and bipolar disorder, both of which he fights every single day, with every breath.
After a brain surgery left him with anxiety, weight gain, and depressive symptoms, Jakob
Waldron found out what real friends looked like.
by Taylor Oxley
After two negative experiences with less-than-optimal therapists, Taylor Oxley chose to battle her mental illness alone. As a last resort, she decided to visit one more.