The following blog posts are written by people with personal experience of bipolar disorder. By talking openly, our bloggers hope to increase understanding around mental health, break stereotypes and take the taboo out of something that – like physical health – affects us all.

I am a woman who has bipolar, not a bipolar woman - there is a huge difference

April 22, 2014

For as long as I can remember I have always had my own style and way of looking at the world and reading people. I had always been described as a child ‘with highs and lows and a tendency to angry outbursts’. When I was in high school I suffered from a period of depression where I began self-harming and monitoring exactly what I ate and when.

Getting naked - the challenges of disclosing bipolar disorder at work

March 31, 2014

I have a reputation for being eccentric at work. My desk is messy and I’m known for singing the same three songs in sudden unbridled outbursts. And yet I’ve managed to hold down the same job for over eight years, rarely letting a ball drop. For five years I masqueraded as unconventional but sane. If I ever needed to take time off to repair my mental health, I would blame flu, food-poisoning, migraines – anything but that. Anything but have colleagues look at me in pity, judgment or doubt.

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