Today I sit down with Deirdre, my first guest whose parent had mental illness. Her mom, Minnie, managed bipolar disorder and Deirdre grew up fast. By age 6 she had been exposed to her mother’s suicide attempt. Later, when Deirdre asked her mom why she would want to leave her daughter, Minnie told her she was in a deep, dark hole with no visible way out.

Life became chaotic for Deirdre as she was stuck in the middle of a custody battle, suffered the loss of a brother, and now went on visits to her see her mom at a psychiatric facility. Living with her dad gave Deirdre some stability, but no one consistently showed in her daily life and asked young Deirdre, How can I help you?

Fast-forward years of school hopping, active duty in the military, a career in crisis communications and experience in community mediation--Deirdre had to make a critical decision. If your mom and grandmother have bipolar disorder, is having a child the right thing to do?

Deirdre is now in grad school fulfilling her lifelong dream to be a psychotherapist. With the gift of listening and letting her patients know they are always prioritized, Deirdre is driven to provide support that was not always available to her. 

Support the show

Help Bipolar She Today! Buy Me A Coffee is a platform for podcasters to receive support, even if just a micro-donation. It's finally time to grow! Let's amplify voices of mental illness in all their raw details.

Bipolar She is dedicated to real conversations for women living with mental illness. Hosted by Janine Noel, the majority of episodes give voice to a woman who has lived-life experience with mental illness--or who has experienced the illness of someone close to them. Along the way, I interview experts in the field that address additional mental health concerns.

Frankly, coping with a mental health condition can be exhausting. Here's a place where you can land and find an episode that resonates with you. Some topics we've covered: being a bipolar mom or having a bipolar mom. Anxiety, agoraphobia, chronic depression, ECT, borderline personality disorder, ADHD, a psychiatrist that breaks your trust. A therapist who goes above and beyond to help you. The impact of trauma on your brain. 

Bipolar She couldn't have thrived without guitarist, JD Cullum's original music.

Editor Brandon Moran makes everyone's voice sound both crisper and smarter.

Sponsored by Amy Vincze's Emotional Freedom Technique App: Soar With Tapping.

Today, I sit down with Susan. After a near-death experience at age thirteen, Susan had a new view on life and death. Death was no longer something to fear, and Susan wasn't afraid to push life to its limits. In her teenage years, she learned the ritual of binging and purging and by college she was stuck in a pattern of bulimia and indulgent sexual encounters. The more food and sex, the more alive Susan felt.
Susan shares the complexities of healing from an eating disorder and destructive behaviors. To make it to the next chapter in her life, Susan gives up restrictive dieting and discovers meditation, and ultimately, the healing properties of Ayurveda. Following the concept of seva, being of service, and of Tikkun olam--to fix the world--Susan's evolving life perspective removes her from harm's way and and gives her deep purpose.

More on Susan's books Here
More on Susan Here.

Support the show

Help Bipolar She Today! Buy Me A Coffee is a platform for podcasters to receive support, even if just a micro-donation. It's finally time to grow! Let's amplify voices of mental illness in all their raw details.

Bipolar She is dedicated to real conversations for women living with mental illness. Hosted by Janine Noel, the majority of episodes give voice to a woman who has lived-life experience with mental illness--or who has experienced the illness of someone close to them. Along the way, I interview experts in the field that address additional mental health concerns.

Frankly, coping with a mental health condition can be exhausting. Here's a place where you can land and find an episode that resonates with you. Some topics we've covered: being a bipolar mom or having a bipolar mom. Anxiety, agoraphobia, chronic depression, ECT, borderline personality disorder, ADHD, a psychiatrist that breaks your trust. A therapist who goes above and beyond to help you. The impact of trauma on your brain. 

Bipolar She couldn't have thrived without guitarist, JD Cullum's original music.

Editor Brandon Moran makes everyone's voice sound both crisper and smarter.

Sponsored by Amy Vincze's Emotional Freedom Technique App: Soar With Tapping.

It's 2004. An election year. Republican incumbent George W. Bush vs. John Kerry, Democratic nominee. I'm in a psych ward on November 2, with the right to vote. But when all I can think about is good vs. evil, casting a ballot turns into despair.
     In this episode, I chat with guest host, Sephe, about delusion and cognitive distortion, as well as the redemptive power of human connection and empathy. We speak about the sadness of lost years, reclaiming one's past, and discovering one's gifts.
     As Janine expresses her gratitude to listeners of Bipolar She, she also asks for support in keeping the podcast alive--with all those good social media clicks, likes, and follows.

More on guest host Sephe Haven:
MITS podcast: HERE
Books available: www.isadoraoboto.com 

Support the show

Help Bipolar She Today! Buy Me A Coffee is a platform for podcasters to receive support, even if just a micro-donation. It's finally time to grow! Let's amplify voices of mental illness in all their raw details.

Bipolar She is dedicated to real conversations for women living with mental illness. Hosted by Janine Noel, the majority of episodes give voice to a woman who has lived-life experience with mental illness--or who has experienced the illness of someone close to them. Along the way, I interview experts in the field that address additional mental health concerns.

Frankly, coping with a mental health condition can be exhausting. Here's a place where you can land and find an episode that resonates with you. Some topics we've covered: being a bipolar mom or having a bipolar mom. Anxiety, agoraphobia, chronic depression, ECT, borderline personality disorder, ADHD, a psychiatrist that breaks your trust. A therapist who goes above and beyond to help you. The impact of trauma on your brain. 

Bipolar She couldn't have thrived without guitarist, JD Cullum's original music.

Editor Brandon Moran makes everyone's voice sound both crisper and smarter.

Sponsored by Amy Vincze's Emotional Freedom Technique App: Soar With Tapping.

Today, I sit down with Madelynn to talk about major depression, which she's battled since high school--nearly 40 years. Madelynn doesn't hold back when discussing suicidal ideation during the pandemic and how difficult it is to live through ideation in an anxious body or to handle a body that just feels flat and void of any emotions.

But Madelynn's now equipped with a plan to catch these early signs of depression by reaching out to friends, writing notes from a happier self, getting good support and a little bit of alchemy, bringing her a remedy along the way.

I am in awe of Madelynn's honesty and her practice of finding hope. We get into a conversation about what it's like for our generation to handle mental illness and how it varies greatly with the current "out and proud" approach with our youth.

We also discuss the emotional toll of contrasting the lives we dreamed of with the quieter, more introspective lives we now lead.

PS The Kahlil Gibran poem Madelynn refers to is titled: "On Joy and Sorrow."

Enjoy,
Janine

Support the show

Help Bipolar She Today! Buy Me A Coffee is a platform for podcasters to receive support, even if just a micro-donation. It's finally time to grow! Let's amplify voices of mental illness in all their raw details.

Bipolar She is dedicated to real conversations for women living with mental illness. Hosted by Janine Noel, the majority of episodes give voice to a woman who has lived-life experience with mental illness--or who has experienced the illness of someone close to them. Along the way, I interview experts in the field that address additional mental health concerns.

Frankly, coping with a mental health condition can be exhausting. Here's a place where you can land and find an episode that resonates with you. Some topics we've covered: being a bipolar mom or having a bipolar mom. Anxiety, agoraphobia, chronic depression, ECT, borderline personality disorder, ADHD, a psychiatrist that breaks your trust. A therapist who goes above and beyond to help you. The impact of trauma on your brain. 

Bipolar She couldn't have thrived without guitarist, JD Cullum's original music.

Editor Brandon Moran makes everyone's voice sound both crisper and smarter.

Sponsored by Amy Vincze's Emotional Freedom Technique App: Soar With Tapping.

Today I sit down with Tracy to learn about her struggle with anxiety and how it seemed to crop up at milestone birthdays. A self-described nervous child and lifelong "nervous wreck," Tracy didn't know what anxiety was until she turned thirty--a birthday that forced her to take a look at where her life was headed.

Tracy made it through until age forty when her anxiety intensified. She could barely drive without having a panic attack and learned she hand agoraphobia.

In this episode, Tracy shares this secret life that became a literal and figurative roadblock. With candor and vulnerability, we learn her harrowing story and how she made it through her darkest of days.

Send your mental health story to Janine via the Contact form at the website: bipolarshe.com
You never know, it may be a good fit for the show. I will respond to all inquiries.
Special Thanks...
Music composed and performed by guitarist, JD Cullum
Recorded at Modern Tone Studios the highest ranked recording studio in the San Francisco East Bay.
Inspired to write and looking for guidance? Diablo Writers' Workshop offers classes, workshops and editorial services.

Support the show

Help Bipolar She Today! Buy Me A Coffee is a platform for podcasters to receive support, even if just a micro-donation. It's finally time to grow! Let's amplify voices of mental illness in all their raw details.

Bipolar She is dedicated to real conversations for women living with mental illness. Hosted by Janine Noel, the majority of episodes give voice to a woman who has lived-life experience with mental illness--or who has experienced the illness of someone close to them. Along the way, I interview experts in the field that address additional mental health concerns.

Frankly, coping with a mental health condition can be exhausting. Here's a place where you can land and find an episode that resonates with you. Some topics we've covered: being a bipolar mom or having a bipolar mom. Anxiety, agoraphobia, chronic depression, ECT, borderline personality disorder, ADHD, a psychiatrist that breaks your trust. A therapist who goes above and beyond to help you. The impact of trauma on your brain. 

Bipolar She couldn't have thrived without guitarist, JD Cullum's original music.

Editor Brandon Moran makes everyone's voice sound both crisper and smarter.

Sponsored by Amy Vincze's Emotional Freedom Technique App: Soar With Tapping.

Today is an unexpected, full-circle, episode and I am thrilled. We didn't plan on this, but when Sarah learned her sister Ava had shared her journey as Sarah's caregiver, Sarah, decided to share her side  of the experience as a recipient of Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT). Sarah, now advocate of ECT, came on this week's podcast to let us know first-hand about ECT being a lifesaving treatment, how it is performed and why it's time to speak up against its formerly "barbaric" reputation. Sarah shares her story as a dedicated physician, during which her hypomania served her life and impressive career well, until age 46 when she hit her first depressive episode.

In Part 1: Sisters Embark on ECT, Ava so bravely shares her story about caring for a loved one when Sarah was in the midst of her mid-life mental health crisis and treatment resistant episodes. At that time, Ava became Sarah's best advocate, working tirelessly with doctors to find a solution to Sarah's worsening symptoms and ultimately being courageous enough to support Sarah through the often stigmatized (ECT), which  healed Sarah's mind. 

In two episodes, both sisters now share their story of hope, empathy, and resilience with mental illness. Enjoy Part 1 and Part 2.

Support the show

Help Bipolar She Today! Buy Me A Coffee is a platform for podcasters to receive support, even if just a micro-donation. It's finally time to grow! Let's amplify voices of mental illness in all their raw details.

Bipolar She is dedicated to real conversations for women living with mental illness. Hosted by Janine Noel, the majority of episodes give voice to a woman who has lived-life experience with mental illness--or who has experienced the illness of someone close to them. Along the way, I interview experts in the field that address additional mental health concerns.

Frankly, coping with a mental health condition can be exhausting. Here's a place where you can land and find an episode that resonates with you. Some topics we've covered: being a bipolar mom or having a bipolar mom. Anxiety, agoraphobia, chronic depression, ECT, borderline personality disorder, ADHD, a psychiatrist that breaks your trust. A therapist who goes above and beyond to help you. The impact of trauma on your brain. 

Bipolar She couldn't have thrived without guitarist, JD Cullum's original music.

Editor Brandon Moran makes everyone's voice sound both crisper and smarter.

Sponsored by Amy Vincze's Emotional Freedom Technique App: Soar With Tapping.

Today I speak with Ava about her sister, Sarah, and her struggle to find the right treatment for Sarah's bipolar disorder. Ava and Sarah are both successful physicians, and Sarah's behavior did not present with any symptoms of illness her entire life. But when Sarah is diagnosed in her mid-forties, her impressive life and career is disrupted by treatment resistant bipolar illness and she is in dire need of good care.

Although Ava lives 500 miles away from Sarah, she becomes Sarah's best advocate, working with doctors to find a solution to Sarah's worsening symptoms and the collapse of her high achieving life. Ultimately, with the support of Ava and her family, and the often stigmatized Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT), Sarah's life is finally restored.

Support the show

Help Bipolar She Today! Buy Me A Coffee is a platform for podcasters to receive support, even if just a micro-donation. It's finally time to grow! Let's amplify voices of mental illness in all their raw details.

Bipolar She is dedicated to real conversations for women living with mental illness. Hosted by Janine Noel, the majority of episodes give voice to a woman who has lived-life experience with mental illness--or who has experienced the illness of someone close to them. Along the way, I interview experts in the field that address additional mental health concerns.

Frankly, coping with a mental health condition can be exhausting. Here's a place where you can land and find an episode that resonates with you. Some topics we've covered: being a bipolar mom or having a bipolar mom. Anxiety, agoraphobia, chronic depression, ECT, borderline personality disorder, ADHD, a psychiatrist that breaks your trust. A therapist who goes above and beyond to help you. The impact of trauma on your brain. 

Bipolar She couldn't have thrived without guitarist, JD Cullum's original music.

Editor Brandon Moran makes everyone's voice sound both crisper and smarter.

Sponsored by Amy Vincze's Emotional Freedom Technique App: Soar With Tapping.

Today I talk with Graham Wiseman, as he shares the story of his son Colin, who lost his battle with anxiety, ADHD, and depression at age fifteen when he died by suicide. Graham speaks about grief and the different ways he and his wife have moved through the grieving process. Together, they have focused on a singular purpose--to advocate for change in youth mental health in schools and beyond. Through the nonprofit BeingwellCA, Colin's legacy has propelled state-wide integration of wellness centers in schools.

We discuss the essential role of caring adults--beyond a child's parent--and how their time and mentorship proves an invaluable part of helping students struggling with mental health issues. This is where you can get involved in your community. Perhaps you're a coach or an artist or a writer or a lawyer--the only requisite is the desire to listen and offer support to a single student. And this is where the most hopeful statistics on preventing youth suicide live--in this student & compassionate adult equation.

To fund more student wellness centers and offer critical mental health resources to school districts across the state, BeingwellCA has teamed up with California Department of Education to create a Mental Health Awareness License Plate. The unique license plate has one goal: To bring mental illness into the light--even if just a traffic light. Visit BeingwellCA.org to show your support of this urgent campaign.

Click Here for information on BeingwellCA.org
Graham speaks about Dr. Cheryl King's work that offers a potential strategy for success at keeping kids' mental health strong and the power of having a caring adult in their life. Click Here for Dr. King's Ted Talk.

Support the show

Help Bipolar She Today! Buy Me A Coffee is a platform for podcasters to receive support, even if just a micro-donation. It's finally time to grow! Let's amplify voices of mental illness in all their raw details.

Bipolar She is dedicated to real conversations for women living with mental illness. Hosted by Janine Noel, the majority of episodes give voice to a woman who has lived-life experience with mental illness--or who has experienced the illness of someone close to them. Along the way, I interview experts in the field that address additional mental health concerns.

Frankly, coping with a mental health condition can be exhausting. Here's a place where you can land and find an episode that resonates with you. Some topics we've covered: being a bipolar mom or having a bipolar mom. Anxiety, agoraphobia, chronic depression, ECT, borderline personality disorder, ADHD, a psychiatrist that breaks your trust. A therapist who goes above and beyond to help you. The impact of trauma on your brain. 

Bipolar She couldn't have thrived without guitarist, JD Cullum's original music.

Editor Brandon Moran makes everyone's voice sound both crisper and smarter.

Sponsored by Amy Vincze's Emotional Freedom Technique App: Soar With Tapping.

After a decade of pounding the pavement, Janine abandons the acting dream and heads to the desert to be a writer. Can this new identity save her from another psychotic break? Will it allow her to get a step ahead of bipolar illness? What if the key to her stability isn't a prescription, but a creature who teaches her the true value of sanity? Janine also gets real about her structured life today and how it's her best chance at staying healthy for tomorrow.

Support the show

Help Bipolar She Today! Buy Me A Coffee is a platform for podcasters to receive support, even if just a micro-donation. It's finally time to grow! Let's amplify voices of mental illness in all their raw details.

Bipolar She is dedicated to real conversations for women living with mental illness. Hosted by Janine Noel, the majority of episodes give voice to a woman who has lived-life experience with mental illness--or who has experienced the illness of someone close to them. Along the way, I interview experts in the field that address additional mental health concerns.

Frankly, coping with a mental health condition can be exhausting. Here's a place where you can land and find an episode that resonates with you. Some topics we've covered: being a bipolar mom or having a bipolar mom. Anxiety, agoraphobia, chronic depression, ECT, borderline personality disorder, ADHD, a psychiatrist that breaks your trust. A therapist who goes above and beyond to help you. The impact of trauma on your brain. 

Bipolar She couldn't have thrived without guitarist, JD Cullum's original music.

Editor Brandon Moran makes everyone's voice sound both crisper and smarter.

Sponsored by Amy Vincze's Emotional Freedom Technique App: Soar With Tapping.

After leaving her New York acting dreams behind, Janine still has a plan for success. The instant she feels physically and mentally fit, she takes on Hollywood. Suddenly, she's cast in an LA play that's headed back to New York and may bring an Off-Broadway credit her way.  At the mercy of a radical psychiatrist, Janine must keep her thrilled head on straight while the celebrity stars align and her ability to stay out of danger is put to the test.

Support the show

Help Bipolar She Today! Buy Me A Coffee is a platform for podcasters to receive support, even if just a micro-donation. It's finally time to grow! Let's amplify voices of mental illness in all their raw details.

Bipolar She is dedicated to real conversations for women living with mental illness. Hosted by Janine Noel, the majority of episodes give voice to a woman who has lived-life experience with mental illness--or who has experienced the illness of someone close to them. Along the way, I interview experts in the field that address additional mental health concerns.

Frankly, coping with a mental health condition can be exhausting. Here's a place where you can land and find an episode that resonates with you. Some topics we've covered: being a bipolar mom or having a bipolar mom. Anxiety, agoraphobia, chronic depression, ECT, borderline personality disorder, ADHD, a psychiatrist that breaks your trust. A therapist who goes above and beyond to help you. The impact of trauma on your brain. 

Bipolar She couldn't have thrived without guitarist, JD Cullum's original music.

Editor Brandon Moran makes everyone's voice sound both crisper and smarter.

Sponsored by Amy Vincze's Emotional Freedom Technique App: Soar With Tapping.