Hi! Thank you for being here. I have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder for twenty-one years. Looking back, I can see how it colored my entire life. As a small child, I was often sad, scared, and crying. My sister Kate nicknamed me "Boo" as in boo hoo. I can pinpoint my first manic episode at the age of sixteen proceeded by a traumatic event. I thought everyone had these drastic mood changes from severe lows to extreme highs until I was diagnosed in 2001 and learned about this disorder. I have experienced many psychiatric hospitals stays over the years and I am coming up on my fourth anniversary of not being hospitalized. Before that, I entered the hospital at least twice a year.
My sincere hope is that individuals, like yourself, will discover hope, resiliency, self-care, mindfulness, awareness, how to be gentle and kind with yourself, and support for living with bipolar, any other mental illness, or from loving someone with any of these issues. I plan to be brutally honest about what it is like to live with mental illness. I suffer from depression often throughout each year, with a mania sprinkled in about once a year. A lot of times I struggle to get through each hour, day, or week. I hope you can identify with my moods and the steps I take to stay healthy.
Take good care,
Christine
"The only way out is through." - C. Donohue