The Bipolar Battle

John is a big believer in taking action to prevent a mood episode. However, what do you do when you are in a depressive episode? John discusses some suggestions to help you get through.

Natalie Dale graduated Alpha-Omega-Alpha from the Chicago Medical School in 2016 and began her residency in Neurology at Oregon Health Sciences University. After struggling with Bipolar II Disorder, she decided to leave medicine and focus on her long-time passion: writing. Since then, she has written three novels and several short stories exploring the deeply personal experience of physical and mental illness. She also freelances, writing research essays, fact-checking, and translating academic articles for the layperson. In her spare time, she organizes an elementary school reading program, runs a local writing critique group, and plays violin in a community orchestra. She married her college sweetheart, dotes on her dog and cat, and lives in Hillsboro, Oregon. 

1)  Natalie, what is your background? My background is pretty mixed. I started out as a music major (violin performance) in college, before switching to a biochemistry major so that I could go to medical school. I took two years off between college and medical school. During that time, I worked in an infectious disease lab at the University of Washington, then I went to New Zealand on a scholarship from Rotary International. In New Zealand, I took classes in Public Health (earning my DPH, or Diploma in Public Health) and gave talks around Australia and New Zealand comparing healthcare systems. Once back in the US, I attended Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and science and graduated with honors before starting my neurology residency at Oregon Health Sciences University. I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder less than three months before graduation. I left OHSU in December 2017 due to my struggle with Bipolar II Disorder, and since then have been focusing on writing 

2)  Natalie, what projects are you working on? What are your goals for those projects? I like to do a lot of things at once. I find that this gives me the flexibility I need since my disease still isn’t fully controlled. I write short stories, nonfiction articles, and novels. But the project that is closest to my heart is my second novel, Pathétique. 

Before I came up with a title, I called it the “Bipolar Violinist” story. It’s about Anna Zantic, a 30-year-old professional violinist who has recently landed her dream job with the Portland Philharmonic. But when side effects from her lithium start affecting her ability to read music, she turns to her mother for advice. Her mom – a concert pianist who has never accepted her daughter’s illness – convinces Anna to stop taking her meds. As you might expect, things go downhill from there. The book is all about breaking free of stigma, denial, and family expectations. It’s about acceptance and finding a way to embrace the changes that Bipolar can force down your throat. I started working on it while I was debating leaving residency. At the time, I was feeling the weight of failure quite keenly. The book started out as a way for me to work through these feelings, to come to some semblance of acceptance. But since it’s inception (and I’ve now gone through more than 30 drafts), it’s become a lot more. 

Social media links: 

Website: Nataliedaleauthor.com 

Twitter: @dalenatalie 

Facebook: natalie.grattan.9  

Instagram: natalierose6627

Paul Marlow came up with the idea of Never Alone during his depression after his dad passed away. Over the next 16 months, he used the motivation to create something worthy to help others in the world, to also help him fight his way out of depression. Today, www.weareneveralone.co is live. Each sale goes back into creating free online content to help those who need it.

Resilience expert Anne Grady is not your typical motivational speaker. She is a best-selling author, two-time TEDx speaker, trainer, survivor, optimist, inspirer, and truth-bomb dropper. 

Anne has a master’s degree in organizational communication and has spent the last 20 years working with some of the largest organizations around the globe. She has become known as a leading expert on communication, leadership, emotional intelligence, and resilience, contributing to Harvard Business Review, Entrepreneur, Fast Company, Inc. Magazine, FOX Business, and many more. 

Audiences love her raw honesty, edgy humor, authenticity, and insight. Anne shares inspiring personal stories, cutting edge research-based content, and implementation tools to transfer learning into real life to improve relationships, navigate change, and triumph over adversity. And she’ll make you laugh while she does it. 

In her first book, “52 Strategies for Life, Love, & Work,” Anne provides practical strategies to improve relationships, increase productivity, and reduce stress. In her second book, “Strong Enough: Choosing Courage, Resilience, and Triumph,” Anne draws from her personal life experiences that touch the hearts and minds of readers, helping them use adversity as a catalyst to grow "strong enough." Her new book, “Mind Over Moment: Harness the Power of Resilience,” will be published in fall 2020. Learn more at www.AnneGradyGroup.com.

Rebecca and Joe have been married for almost 19 years and happily live in Michigan. Rebecca has battled bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and self-harm since she was 19 years old. 

Rebecca is a published author and blogger starting back in 2013. Joe has been Rebecca's support and rock the entire time. Joe has been battling anxiety and depression for about 10 years, although it's probably been a lot longer. He didn't recognize what he was going through until he saw his symptoms in what I struggled with. 

Rebecca and Joe have been hosting the podcast, Voices For Change 2.0, for 3 years. They also promote their hashtag #KeepTalkingMH. Their goal is to help break down the stigma surrounding mental illnesses and to educate them through various guests and topics. 

Rebecca's Twitter handle: @BekaLombardo Joe's Twitter handle: @powerslave1974 Website: www.rebeccalombardo.com

Chris Wyllie is a brain transformation specialist, Neuroplastician, NLP Trainer, Educator and Speaker, and The Game Changer. He is a brain and mental health expert teaching you how to make lasting mental behavioral changes. Over the past 10+ years, 

Chris has been learning about the brain & how to help others transform their brain & behavior. Today, Chris joins The Bipolar Battle Podcast and discusses how you can literally transform your brain.

John describes mania using his own lived experience. Some myths are busted and the facts are set straight regarding the reality of a manic episode.