In this episode of the Psych Central Show, hosts Gabe Howard and Vincent M. Wales welcome Katie Dale, a young woman with bipolar disorder who was convinced by a pastor to discontinue her medication and instead put her faith in God to heal her. Unsurprisingly, going off her meds plunged Katie into a serious bipolar episode. She [...]
In this episode of the Psych Central Show, hosts Gabe and Vincent address the frequently ignored and often misrepresented aspect of bipolar disorder – hypersexuality. Many seem to view this as a desirable state, believing it to be little more than having frequent sex. It is often treated as a punchline (when it is addressed at all). [...]
Let’s pretend for a moment that living with bipolar disorder isn’t life-sucking. Let’s pretend that having a chronic illness, going to medical appointments, and managing the day-to-day issues that bipolar disorder brings doesn’t take a daily toll. For the sake of argument, I’ll even remove fear, expenses, and emotional pain from the list of things [...]
In this episode of the Psych Central Show, hosts Gabe and Vincent discuss anxiety disorders, which can be debilitating on many levels and strain even the closest relationships, often due to a lack of understanding of what anxiety disorder is like. Listen as our hosts describe what it’s like, from mild social anxiety to full-blown, sweat-dripping panic [...]
I am very excited to interview Suzy Favor Hamilton, a former Olympian who lives with bipolar disorder. She has been featured on multiple news shows, including 20/20. She is an amazing advocate, a really cool person, and it was nice to meet her. From her bio: Fast Girl – A Life Spent Running From Madness [...]
As 2015 comes to a close, I sit here and reflect on everything that I achieved in the past year. Living with bipolar disorder and anxiety colors how I feel about those achievements, which wrote about earlier this month in a blog called “Bipolar Disorder and Stinking Thinking,” but I am aware that I had [...]
A few weeks ago, I got a call from an older male family member asking me about panic attacks and anxiety. Turns out he has been experiencing them for the first time in his life and was confused and concerned. One of the first things he told me was that he has no history of [...]
Teenagers have a tendency to be dramatic — and that includes throwing the word suicide around. Many of us don’t like to admit it, but we were dramatic at that age, too, at least to some extent. Now that we’re parents (or other relatives, mentors, caregivers, or friends) to a teenager, the universe is giving [...]
At its core, Mental Health Awareness Month is a time for people to learn more about mental health conditions and, ideally, seek out help for them. Mental health charities all over the country plan events, awareness rallies, and fundraisers. Media outlets run stories discussing the importance of mental health care and its role in our [...]
I receive a lot of e-mail, direct messages, and phone calls asking me a variety of questions. With the exception of specific questions about living with mental illness, the most asked question has to do with my advocacy work or how to become an advocate themselves. While there is no guarantee what part you can [...]
