Being diagnosed with a disorder as mysterious and stigmatized as bipolar can be scary and even devastating.

I was psychotic the day I was diagnosed. I was in the hospital, and I never saw the psychiatrist again. I didn’t have the capacity to really let the words sink in.

It was after I got home that I realized the impact of my diagnosis.

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As a teenager, I made everything tougher than it needed to be.

I argued when I was asked to do chores. I was miserable just to prove a point. I wouldn’t listen to good advice.

I was also a teenager with mental illness.

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I am still mystified by the new health care law and how it will affect me and the treatment of my bipolar disorder.

I have read into it, not enough to make me an expert, but enough that an English BA graduate would be able to understand what’s going on.

Truth be told, it’s not as easy as a quick textbook read.

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Quality of life is an important topic for people with bipolar disorder.

If you have the illness, you know that you suffer emotionally, mentally, socially, and physically.

Medically, the diagnosis is associated with impaired functioning.

For instance, if a woman develops bipolar disorder at the age of 25, she could lose up to 9 years of her life because of cardiovascular and other medical problems.

She may also lose up to 14 years of productivity, and 12 years of good health.

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This year, I am actually well enough to put something worthwhile into Mental Health Awareness Month.

At this time last year, I was coming off of severe episodes of depression and mania after having to leave my Master’s program (more on that in a future article).

I was just starting a new job, and I was unsure of myself and what the future would hold.

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In my experience, bipolar symptoms can creep up almost out of nowhere—in the sense that you feel like things might be off one day, and the next day you’re crying uncontrollably, telling your parents you think you’re going crazy.

I think that’s part of falling into a deep episode of depression—it’s almost more powerful than you are. You think you can handle a bad day and then you’re holding a cake knife in your mother’s kitchen, threatening to hurt yourself.

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If you have read my KatGalaxy Blog, you know that music means a lot to me.

I have created mixtapes and written songs devoted to bipolar disorder.

When I was at my highest and lowest moment in life, I was listening to music. 

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I was born in 1988. When I was in kindergarten, the computers we played on had black screens with green figures and symbols.

I know I’m not that old, but technology has really exploded since the late 80’s. I started with Oregon Trail and look where we are now. We’re excited about everything tech.

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When I was in elementary school, my grandparents babysat me while my mom was at work.

My grandparents lived in a busy neighborhood with lots of children.

There were kids my age next door on both sides, and we would all gather to play in the afternoons or on weekends.

One Saturday, we were playing hide and seek throughout the neighborhood and some of the girls were suggesting that I be “it”—the one to find the others.

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This is the second article in a series about bipolar women. As I discussed in the first article on hormones, pregnancy, and medication, this series will explore issues specific to females with bipolar.

The following information, taken from a National Institute of Health manuscript on women and  bipolar across the lifespan, was compiled to inform you about all of the things you might not have known.

Share this information with your friends. Being a woman with bipolar disorder is both unique and challenging. A part of understanding this illness is being armed with information.

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