This Is My Brave Co-Founder and Executive Director Jennifer Marshall Recognized as Washingtonian of the Year Honoree by Washingtonian Magazine

PHOTO BY JEFF ELKINS for WASHINGTONIAN MAGAZINE

Among the thousands of responses Jennifer Marshall received after speaking out about mental illness on her blog, Bipolar Mom Life, one woman’s will stick with her forever: “I found your blog when I was in my darkest moments, and your writing saved my life.”

“That was all I needed to know that what I was doing was making a difference,” says Marshall, a mother of two who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder 13 years ago at age 26.

Before her diagnosis, the Ashburn resident was hospitalized four times in five years, including once for postpartum psychosis and another time while pregnant. After receiving treatment, she started her blog anonymously in 2011—a forum that became therapeutic for her as well as others. But she still was hesitant to put a face to her disease: Her family feared she’d be judged or, worse, unemployed.

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