Firstly, congratulations—and I mean that in all seriousness. I hope it’s the same relief for you that it was for me. You now have an explanation for your emotions and your behavior.

Secondly, I’m going to share some great news with you: it can usually be well-managed. Isn’t that awesome? I can help get you there.

Do you need a book to know what to do and how to do it? Start here.

Are you suicidal or looking for basic information? Start here.

Are you looking for inspiration? Start here.

And guess what? You already have someone pulling for you and believing in your recovery. Who’s that? Me.

In my opinion, yes, you really do. Let me tell you why. Psychiatrists and other psychiatric professionals specialize in medications and medication management. Therapists specialize in—that’s right, therapy. The research shows that bipolar patients have the best outcomes when they use a combination of medication and therapy. In other words, you will start feeling better sooner if you do both.

Now, you may ask, but why can’t I use my psychiatric professional for medication management and therapy? You can. It’s your choice. They’re going to be better at one than the other, though. You’re going to be paying for both either way. Don’t you want—don’t you deserve—the best of both? Especially if it means a better quality of life for you? I think you do.

And please, if you are even thinking about using your family doctor for bipolar medication management, ask yourself if you would go to your family doctor for cancer treatment. Because we are talking about your life here.

The short answer to this is yes. The long answer is it’s complicated. Laws and regulations vary by state. Some have medical review boards. Others do not. Processes are anything but transparent. The whole situation is based on research that can best be described as “semi-ancient” and a general desire to protect other drivers and their passengers from us (at least officially).

The good news is that if you are actively in recovery (fairly stable, in therapy, and on your medications as prescribed as a minimum baseline here) you’re relatively safe.

That said, it’s still a very scary, very real prospect that this privilege—and they do make it clear that it’s a privilege and not a right—can be revoked by their authority. I hope you’ll take care of yourself and get into recovery for you. However, if this isn’t enough additional incentive, I’m not sure what is.

In December 2023 while conducting additional research for this book, I stumbled across the U.S. Social Security Administration’s criteria—which are competely different from the symptoms you’ll find in any other source I’ve seen. After I recovered from my “festival of tears,” I covered them with my boss and HR. They can be quite extensive and were not even on my radar 20 years post-diagnosis. Thankfully, my condition is so well-managed thanks to tons of self-care, therapy, and appropriate use of medication, that they don’t impact my performance to the extent that I require accomodations. They fall into four main categories (in addition to the direct mood disorder symptoms). Here they are:
- Understand, remember, or apply information.
- Interact with others.
- Concentrate, persist, or maintain pace.
- Adapt or manage oneself.

For more information, click here.

When I first wrote “Help! I’m Bipolar”, there was nothing else like it available. All the books were either written by doctors or were memoirs. I write in a cut-to-the-chase, easily digestible style. (At work, I describe it as “See Spot run.”) Yet I still keep it real and entertaining, positive with attitude. Ergo my tagline.

Not everyone is going to like my style. Not everyone is going to be ready to hear what I have to say. I know that. I think it’s important and unique, so I said it anyway.

Every email or message I received from readers of “What Bipolar Feels Like” (which is included in “Help! I’m Bipolar” and therefore out of print) started with “Help! I’m bipolar and…” Since its initial release, the semantics around “being” bipolar have gone out of style, and I acknowledge that we have bipolar. It does not define us. However, I have almost 10,000 followers on my Help! I’m Bipolar Facebook page, so it’s impractical to change the name.

I was formally trained on biomedical research at Lister Hill Library at the University of Alabama in Birmingham during high school while studying Human Anatomy and Physiology. I then worked on a staph vaccine in a biochemistry lab (also at UAB), for which I received multiple scholarships and awards. I made a five on my A.P. Biology exam and was credited for a full year’s study of university biology and lab work. I’ve been writing professionally for over 25 years. In addition to that, I developed bipolar around age 12 and was diagnosed 20 years later. I have over 20 years of bipolar recovery to my credit.