The last few weeks have been chaotic for me. I’ve been in a mixed episode, and starting last week, I’ve been hearing voices. Whispers, chatter, and someone calling my name. All either alone, or only with my partner nearby, and she’s confirmed that they aren’t things that she’s heard. I’ve also been feeling like the crows that wake me up in the morning are mocking me. I’ve known for months that something like this was inevitable, but it’s still jarring to experience a psychotic episode for your first time.

Tags: Abilify, agitation, antipsychotic, anxiety, atypical antipsychotics, bipolar disorder, bipolar II disorder, challenges, comfort, confusion, crying, delusions, depression, diagnosis, dosages, emotional support, emotions, family, family support, fear, free choice, hearing voices, honesty, hospitalization, hypomania, informed consent, irritation, lamictal, lamotrigine, mania, medication, mixed episodes, mood, numbness, Oppression Olympics, partners, privacy, psychiatrists, psychosis, quality of life, queer-friendly doctors, relationships, schizoaffective disorder, schizophrenia, sedation, self-harm, seroquel, stigma, suicidal thoughts, support, symptoms, therapy, thought processes

Hi readers (and writers), I apologize for my lengthy absence. As you know, the people who contribute to this website are people who live with mental health issues and/or mental illness. I am no exception. I live with bipolar II disorder, and in the last month, my moods have swung from a hypomanic high to [...]

Tags: absence, bipolar disorder, bipolar II disorder, depression, editing, hypomania, mood swings, readers, submissions, writers

Trigger warning for description of a suicide attempt, and discussion of sexual assault.

All my life, I’ve been told by those around me that I am highly intelligent, and could do just about anything I set my mind to. I got good grades in school, for the most part (though they dropped a fair bit close to graduating high school), and was known as a happy-go-lucky kid that always found the positive side of just about anything (or anyone).

Tags: antidepressants, anxiety, bipolar disorder, bipolar II disorder, business ownership, CBT, confusion, creativity, cymbalta, dangerous gift, delusions, depersonalization, depression, dissociation, DSM-IV/TR, DSM-V, education, fatigue, feeling fake, getting stable, grades, grandiose thinking, hypersexuality, hypomania, lamictal, mania, marijuana, mixed episodes, mood swings, overconfidence, overspending, paranoia, pot, psychosis, school, self-harm, seroquel, sexual assault, suicidal thoughts, suicide, The Icarus Project, therapy, transition

A terrible crime has been committed, a brutal murder. The suspect? Mental Illness. The victim? My dreams. In the past 3 years, I have gone from a successful professional with a promising career and a wonderful loving partner, to an emotional wreck, unsure if I am even able to hold down a full time job anymore.

Tags: antidepressants, bipolar disorder, careers, CBT, confidence, depression, disability, dreams, emotions, fear, goals, homelessness, hypomania, loss, love, mood stabilizer, partners, pride, psych meds, recovery, relationships, sadness, self-acceptance, spoons, stigma, suicidal thoughts

Living with bipolar disorder, when I get hypomanic, usually the first cue for me is wanting sex all. the. time. At times it gets so bad, it’s all I can think about, or I’ll spend the day masturbating rather than get any work done. Or I’ll spend my time searching for random sex partners to [...]

Tags: antidepressants, BDSM, bipolar disorder, communication, condoms, consent, dental dams, ethical slut, gloves, honesty, hooking up, hypersexuality, hypomania, libido, limits, managing symptoms, masturbation, medication, mood stabilizer, openness, owning sexuality, pleasure, polyamoury, relationships, rest, risk, safer sex, self-care, sex, sex addiction, sex drive, sexuality, trust

Cymbalta is an antidepressant in the SNRI (selective serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor) class. Other Brand Names: none Generic Name: Duloxetine Primary Uses: Major Depressive Disorder Generalized Anxiety Disorder Stress Urinary Incontinence (Europe only) Other Uses: Diabetic Neuropathy Fibromyalgia Availability: 20mg, 30mg, 60mg capsules Contraindications: Any known hypersensitivity to Cymbalta Concurrent use of MAOI’s Uncontrolled narrow-angle glaucoma [...]

Tags: antidepressant, anxiety, brain zaps, cymbalta, depression, dizziness, dry mouth, fibromyalgia, headache, hypomania, irritability, mood swings, nausea, psych meds, quick facts, rash, SNRI, withdrawal