Live Well Bipolar ™

I am so happy to bring back a wonderful guest, Bonnie Mosby, who I brought to the podcast for you guys over a year ago.

Bonnie is the CEO of The Imperfect Human, LLC, a mental health and performance coach at The Imperfect Human, LLC, a Brazilian jiujitsu blue belt, and a master social worker in training.

Bonnie is back to expand on the lesson she shared on self-acceptance with how we can cultivate this thing called radical belief in oneself.

This conversation will equip you with the skills to tackle internalized ableism that so many of us struggle with when living with bipolar disorder.

Not only will Bonnie lay out how to tackle this internalized ableism but how to go about curating your support network and leaning into available resources.

There is a story Bonnie shares of the power of the people you keep around you and what we can do to continue to foster this belief in ourselves that some in our lives help us see.

For more Bonnie be sure to connect with her here and checkout our throwback episode from last August here.

This week we are joined by a psychiatrist who took the time to create a story on bipolar for us.

Elizabeth Nguyen, MD is a multidimensional psychiatrist, writer, and author of the recently published novel, Aloha Vietnam. She was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her parents were refugees from Vietnam who arrived in Honolulu in 1975 at the end of the Vietnam War. She received her BA from Stanford University in Human Biology, her MD from Northwestern University, and her Psychiatry Residency and Child Psychiatry Fellowship training at UC Davis.

She started her career in community mental health, with specific interests in cross-cultural psychiatry, the intersection of spirituality and mental health, and the healing power of water and the natural world. She currently lives and works in private practice in Davis, CA.

Dr. Nguyen speaks openly about her early experience with mental illness in her family growing up. She describes the ways in which this influenced her to pursue her career in psychiatry. This career is also what put her on the path to write and publish Aloha Vietnam.

Aloha Vietnam describes the journey of Anh Nguyen, a 17 year old senior in high school, who experiences her first manic episode. She is diagnosed with bipolar disorder, put on medications, and she and her Vietnamese-American family are suddenly thrown into the world of mental health treatment and recovery.

Tune into this episode to hear Dr. Nguyen's take on therapy, living well with bipolar and the ways in which her clients have helped her grow as both a practitioner and person.

Connect with Dr. Nguyen here and grab her book here.

Jonathan Szarko was diagnosed with bipolar 1 disorder, spent 9 months in jail and was dead set on not becoming "another statistic in the criminal justice system."

Standing in handcuffs in front of a judge at 30 years old, Jonathan was given a choice. He could either spend 5 years in jail or 5 years on probation. After living through past struggles with drugs and alcohol, Jonathan made the commitment to get sober and prioritize one of his oldest passions: fitness.

Growing up with a grandfather who was a bodybuilder, Jonathan shares his history with athletics and how he set out to manage his bipolar diagnosis through returning to the world of fitness.

He shares a huge struggle of weight gain with bipolar medications and how he was able to combat this and love his own body to teach others this.

Getting back on track came with earning his B.S. degree in Community Health Sciences and his NSCA-Certified Personal Trainers (NSCA-CPT®) license. From there, Jonathan launched his "Lifting with Bipolar" podcast to inspire others on their fitness journeys who live with bipolar.

Today, Jonathan is an Online Personal Trainer specializing in helping people with bipolar disorder love the skin their in and also manage any unwanted weight gain associated with medications.

Connect with Jonathan at his website here. From there you can access his podcast, Instagram page and YouTube channel.

I open up about why I published my book, Crooked Illness: Lessons From Inside & Outside Hospital Walls, and what vulnerability has done for my healing journey.

There were a number of things I had to change in order to even get to a stable place before Live Well Bipolar ™ could be born. Part of these changes came with stripping away the stigma I attached to myself after receiving my diagnosis.

Publishing my book allowed me the opportunity to share the numerous solutions I had discovered from so many guests on this podcast. I asked myself "where do I want to be? What do I want to feel like?"

This equation of getting to where I wanted contained many pieces that I dive into inside my book. I share what it was like to survive a psychiatric hospitalization, misdiagnosis, sexual assault, abusive relationships and returning to work at the same hospital I was once a court-ordered patient at.

To enter the giveaway to win a signed copy of my book, make sure to read my post and enter here. I am so grateful you are here and thank you for being part of my story.

This week we are joined by Mequell Buck- Author, Public Speaker, Mother of 3 and Suicide Survivor. She founded the organization Mental Illness Warrior and co-hosts the podcast "Thriving With Mental Illness" with her husband Adam.

Mequell dives into what it was like to be misdiagnosed early on in her life, survive a suicide attempt and discover a tool to help her move forward. She speaks about the importance of prioritizing relationships with yourself, family and your habits.

Navigating personal life, marriage, motherhood and a bipolar diagnosis is never easy no matter who you ask but successfully fighting the stigma is a priority for Mequell.

Tune into learn how Mequell was introduced to tracking habits, what doing this has done for her mental health and how she went ahead and made a journal for you to prioritize your mental health here.

For more Mequell follow her here and read her story here.

FREE GIFT- go to her website here and sign up for her newsletter where you will receive a code via email to grab a FREE blank journal (you just pay shipping) only for the month of September in honor of National Suicide Prevention Week.

Tune in to this week's solo episode where I uncover the top 5 things that I have given up on in order to be able to Live Well Bipolar.

Along with this... I share more on why I am currently in the process of giving up on my relationship with alcohol.

I dive into how I have been able to give up on past relationships, jobs and environments that were toxic to my efforts to live well with bipolar.

My hope is if you also live with bipolar like I do or love someone who does.... that these lived experiences will resonate and offer support.

Feel free to learn more about my journey by reading my story here and shooting me a message about your thoughts on the episode here.

Can you imagine being diagnosed with bipolar disorder during a global pandemic while trying to run your own business?

This week, I am joined by Megan, mental health advocate and aspiring author living with bipolar type 1, PTSD, and anxiety. Megan uses her experiences living with bipolar to spread positivity and hope surrounding mental health.

This episode shows how Megan started writing not only to share her experiences to resonate with others but to track her moods. She describes the process of capturing all these things and how it helped her accept her diagnosis.

She touches on the power of using her voice and leveraging the support from her husband and family to prioritize her mental health. Tune in to learn more about Megan's journey along with starting the process of writing her first book.

Connect with Megan on social here and her handmade home decor business here!