Written by Hannah Blum, author of The Truth About Broken: The Unfixed Version of Self-Love It’s the topic we are afraid to talk about, but when it comes to the mental health conversation, it’s the number one thing we should be recognizing. We left one group of people out of the discussion, people with mental illness. The … Continue reading The Wellness Movement’s Shaming of People With Mental Illness
Written by Hannah Blum, author of The Truth About Broken: The Unfixed Version of Self-Love It was no surprise that my phone was ringing off the hook after Episode 3 of the Amazon Prime Series, Modern Love, came out. I am a woman living with bipolar disorder, and ironically I talk about dating with mental … Continue reading 6 Things The Show ‘Modern Love’ Got Right When Portraying Bipolar Disorder
I jumped from the couch spilling cereal all over my shirt reaching for my computer both excited and in disbelief when I saw my moms text message, “Must check out this restaurant-Van Gogh is Bipolar!” A small restaurant located in the Philippines named after Vincent van Gogh and designed to capture features of a bipolar mind.
These are the stories of people living with bipolar disorder that get left out of the mainstream media. These are the stories that could one day create a much larger platform for individuals living with mental illness to feel empowered by what makes them different. I have spent the last couple days gathering information about this restaurant, but to start for those of you who are curious about Van Gogh’s connection to bipolar disorder let me explain. Continue reading “‘Van Gogh Is Bipolar’ Cafe: How a Restaurant Explores and Empowers People with Bipolar”
Remember the infamous Julia Stiles’s speech at the end of the movie, 10 Things I Hate About You? When she reveals to Heath Ledger the pain he’s caused her, “I hate the way you talk to me and the way you cut your hair…” While reading this post, think about stigma as if I am revealing my feelings in the same way as Stiles. Ledger was a good guy, but stigma not so much.
Continue reading “10 Things I Hate About The Stigma of Mental Illness”
It was six years ago that I had my first major episode with bipolar disorder while in College.  I was  living with a group of girls who this story is about. In the last month before I withdrew from school, I kept my struggle hidden from others, especially myself.  Two days before I left, my parents were called by two of my friends.  They told them that I was falling apart.  Day by day I was getting worse.  They realized they couldn’t help me, and decided not to tell the other girls.  I do not like to talk about the pain of the past.  However, a few days ago I learned that sometimes it is necessary to walk down memory lane, no matter how dark the road is…
Continue reading “Then & Now: A Story About Friendship and Mental Illness”
The first man who had his heart broken by me was my father. One day the little girl who danced to the beat of her drum was laying in a hospital bed, withering away. My father has always kept me safe, but there was one person he could not shield me from, and that person was me. Continue reading “Dear Dad: A Letter From Your Daughter With Bipolar”
If you are looking for me to say how much I hate my life with bipolar 2 disorder, you will not find it in this post. It does not define me, but it is a significant part of who I am. If you erase bipolar, you erase me as a whole. I am never going to live without it, and I want to give others a taste of my reality. I do not place pressure on myself to be perfect. I am honest. This is my mind; this is my journey. Here is a little bit of what it is like to live in the mind of a woman diagnosed with bipolar 2 disorder.
Continue reading “Inside the Mind of a Woman With Bipolar Disorder”
When a violent crime occurs, it is assumed that the perpetrator must have been mentally ill.  Has someone with diabetes ever killed someone?  Yes, but we do not hear of this in the media.  “His blood sugar was low which caused him/her to carry out the mass shooting…” Has a young African-American male shot someone?  Yes.  Does that mean that all young African-American males are murderers?  No! It is natural that we want to blame “others” for negative behaviors, because it refrains us from looking in the mirror and realizing that we are all capable of corruption.  Stigma is a barrier that keeps people with a mental illness from progressing in society. Continue reading “6 Stereotypes That Hurt People With Mental Illness”
Written by Hannah Blum, author of The Truth About Broken: The Unfixed Version of Self-Love Close friends are the people we create unforgettable memories with. They know us better than we know ourselves. However, what do you do when your friend suddenly disappears from your life? You reach out but receive no answer. As someone diagnosed with … Continue reading 10 Things Your Friend With Depression Wants You To Know
Written by Hannah Blum, author of Oh Mind, Where Have You Gone Today? A poetry and essay collection about mental illness. As a woman diagnosed with bipolar disorder, I am not naive to the fact that people I date struggle to see beyond the label that society has stamped on me, which is why I wrote … Continue reading 17 Things You Should Know About Dating A Girl With Mental Illness
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