Personal Stories from Mental Health Consumers and Professionals

Life Behind The Wire Mesh Screen: One Woman's Experience With Bipolar Disorder - a county mental health worker, who has bipolar disorder herself, shares her experiences and urges others to speak out and to advocate.

My Experiences as a Consumer and as a Practitioner Within the Mental Health System - a social worker in new england combines his personal experience as a consumer with his professional training for a unique grasp of the cultures of both survivors and care givers

How Many Did I Overlook; The Transformation of a School Psychologist - a school psychologist wonders how many warning signs she overlooked in students until her own child was diagnosed with bipolar disorder

Consumer Perspectives

Telling Our Stories- a top tv journalist learns to tell his own bipolar story by helping others tell theirs

My Journey Back to Sanity - the executive director of the nations largest mental illness consumer organization tells of her own journey back to sanity

Living Life on the Bipolar Ride - he went from a chance to head Scripps institute of oceanography to living life on the bipolar disorder ride with ssi

I Am a Survivor! - a state senate consultant tells of her battle to be a survivor of a family ravaged by mental illness and her own diagnoses of bipolar disorder and diabetes

When the Mind Goes - less than two weeks after the birth of her baby a new mother is put away in a state hospital, abandoned by her family to institutional care

The Hanging Tree - a survivor of 33 years in "the system" has kept his family together and been in the forefront of advocacy for the rights and needs of others

ONWARD from CHANGING OF MIND - an author tells how her "madness" led to her love of words

I Have Been to Hell and Back- a science fiction enthusiast whose bipolar disorder / manic depressive illness has literally taken him to hell and back, shares some 'spiritual' thoughts.

SNAFU: Normal is just not good enough! - defiant in her giftedness and her bipolar disorder label, a prolific author questions if 'normal' is ever enough

There Was No Funeral, So Nobody Cried - a husband and father watches helplessly as his wife abandons the family and goes off on her own perhaps because of her bipolar disorder

Remembering Kate - A Story of Hope - recalling the lessons she learned observing her mother rebuilding a life, a leading self help author, who has bipolar disorder illness herself, emphasizes support.

Sharing and Caring - appreciating those who care and share with us is the topic of an abundantly talented man who has seen and done it all, including bipolar disorder at its most extreme