Growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, mental health was not talked about – or, rather, if it was at all, it was as something shameful to be hidden away as quickly as possible. When I began to experience mental health issues, people who cared were often simply at a loss as to what to say or do to help. Others would take the approach of suggesting, ‘Pull yourself together!’ or make hurtful comments like, ‘What you got to be depressed about?’ I grew up wanting things to be different but also aware that a language around mental health issues that wasn’t dismissive or actively harmful and stigmatisi ..read more

21 Bipolar disorder can be really difficult to identify. Most of the time, people only go to their GP when they're feeling really ill. If you’re feeling down, depressed, anxious, lacking in energy and interest in anything, it’s easy to feel as though it’s not serious enough to go to the GP. Sometimes even that it’s your fault. You certainly go nowhere near health professionals when you’re feeling elated, energetic, invincible and positive about everything! In my experience, once I got myself to the GP and described my symptoms, they looked quite bored and gave me a long list of cou ..read more

I have bipolar schizoaffective disorder. I’ve had it since as long as I can remember, it first rearing up in lesser form when I was a child. Of course, the older I get the stronger it becomes, so my actual diagnosis was when I was thirty one. That was for bipolar disorder, which became easier to deal with once I learnt Carrie Fisher aka Princess Leia had it; the schizoaffective bit was added on later. What did he say? Schizo? Hell no! Run for the hills! Before I continue, referring to people as ‘schizo’ is as offensive to me as referring to someone as ‘a bit bipolar’, which in my book is as ..read more

In January I had the dubious pleasure of travelling down to London, to do some filming for Time to Change in their See the Bigger Picture campaign. Despite my, very, amateurish stumbling through the filming it was eventually finished – apologies to everyone kept waiting and grateful for their patience. The reason I became involved in that project is my belief that mental health issues need to be out in the open. There is no need for stigma. There is no place for stigma. The days that have passed since mid-March have clearly shown how necessary the work of all mental health charities and ..read more

I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2015 shortly after my mum passed away following a tough battle with cancer. When I look back, my first psychotic episode was actually in 1994. This arose following a traumatic event in my life. Although I was diagnosed in 2015, it has taken me until 2020 to finally accept my diagnosis and not be ashamed of it. I had hidden behind the illness for too long, wearing my mask to appear “OK” to the outside world. At this time, I posted on Facebook and Twitter to acknowledge my bipolar diagnosis. I did this on the basis that those that don’t ..read more

Any diagnosis of a mental disorder is frightening, but so too are those crushing depressions when you can’t function, the times when life is simply too much or when you are simply out of control. It was after my second suicide attempt that I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The crushing, life draining, depressions I had noticed (obviously), but somewhere down the line I seemed to have missed the mania. Unfortunately those around me hadn’t and they had to deal with the mess that was left. It is largely the misconceptions that surround mental illness that made my diagnosi ..read more

Having a mood disorder doesn’t make you a bad person, or someone incapable of living a full and meaningful life. I was diagnosed with Bipolar 1 Disorder at the age of 25, after a long and painful process of navigating the mental health system. Since then I have had people ask me if I am violent, if I might ‘lose the plot’ and attack them, and if I am too vulnerable to do my job. I have always been open and honest about my illness, it doesn’t define me as a person and I don’t feel the need to apologise for it. I truly believe you can still lead a happy and productive life desp ..read more

“You have bipolar? I don’t even know what that is”. It was at this second that I knew I needed to spread the word about bipolar. I was diagnosed with bipolar in July 2018 and when I realised there was a lack of understanding specifically around bipolar as an illness, I wanted to share my day to day experiences with anyone who was interested to show the ups and downs of having it. I was so scared about telling people. I was worried that people wouldn’t believe me and I was worried that people would think that I am being an attention seeker. At the time I had concerns about ..read more

I’m 39 years of age and have struggled with my mental health for the majority of those years. I’ve known for a long time it’s been more than depression, but I never felt able to tell anyone just how bad things were. I’ve been through long periods of depression and long periods of what I now know to be mania, and these episodes have lengthened and intensified over the years. After the death of my friend at the end of last year, everything intensified and not getting help was no longer an option. I work as a social worker and the stigma attached to mental health prevented me f ..read more

My name is Aida and I’m diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and a type of bipolar disorder. When I was a kid, I was very introverted and it was hard for me to make new friends due to my shyness. I had insomnia and so many fears, I was even afraid to fall asleep at night. I was also very irritable but besides all these negative things I was generous, kind and I loved smiling and making others laugh. My illness started to show up when I was approximately 14 years old. When I was around that age I started losing friends because I didn’t want to hang out with them no ..read more