Health Magazine: How One Woman With Bipolar Disorder Is Bringing People Together to Fight the Stigma of Mental Illness
By Jennifer Marshall, as told to Stephanie Booth – December 2019
“Too often, people hide their diagnosis for fear of being treated differently. I wanted to break down that stigma.”
When I was 26, my college sweetheart and I were happily married, and I had a successful career as a recruiter. Yet during one stressful week, I only slept three hours and began exhibiting signs of mania, talking very fast and not connecting my thoughts. I was also having hallucinations.
A psychiatrist attributed it to sleep deprivation and stress. But a week later, the entire event repeated itself. I landed in a psychiatric hospital, where I learned I had bipolar disorder.
At first, I felt completely alone. I wasn’t close to anyone who’d gone through mental illness. Not until I found people writing online about their experiences did I realize,“It’s not a death sentence.” Maybe living with a diagnosis could even be an opportunity for growth.
Click here to read the full article from Health Magazine, December 2019 Issue
