Prevention Magazine - How My Bipolar Diagnosis Improved My Mental Health
When I first saw the request in my Instagram messages, I was unsure. They wanted to interview me about my experience with bipolar disorder, but specifically about my extended family’s experience with mental health and the impact of that on my journey. My family is big, so anonymity isn’t something that’s a challenge. When I say “my aunt” that could be one of nearly a dozen aunts I have. Plus, I’ve talked about my knowledge of bipolar disorder before my own diagnosis and how much of that knowledge or experience of what the episodes and symptoms look like come from seeing it first hand in a family member.
Once I started talking to Emily, the interviewer for Prevention Magazine, I realized that much of what she was interested in was how my life changed after I found out I have bipolar disorder— what fears I had, but also what stability it brought me. For years I had talked about things like finding a therapist, or finally figuring out a way to achieve more work-life balance. And then I was hospitalized during a manic episode, and went through 6 days of inpatient treatment followed by 7 weeks of outpatient treatment. After that, regular therapy and work-life balance weren’t a choice, they were a mandatory requirement for a healthy life.
The headline of the final product couldn’t have turned out better. How My Bipolar Diagnosis Improved My Mental Health. It truly did! After my 3 month leave from work, I returned with knowledge, tools in my tool belt, and a better understanding of myself and my brain. Things weren’t great, or 100% back to normal, but I was adjusting to my medication, and my treatment team determined it was safe for me to return to work with some strong boundaries in place. I would have set days to be in the office, and meeting business owners or attending networking events in Chicago. The other days would be spent working from home. I would under no circumstance work late, and I would do my best to not open my email or check work things in the morning, until after my morning walk with Oscar.
To read more about the boundaries I put in place, and how it helped me to get where I’m currently at, check out the full article. And let me know what you think! I’m always here to talk about mental health, and the importance of prioritizing it and yourself; diagnosis or not.
