One of the most painful aspects of living with bipolar is the way in which it can wreak havoc in our personal relationships. During mania we are more likely to make social faux pas from making promises in moments of grandeur we can’t keep to tearing people down during our unbridled rage. When we emergeContinue reading “Navigating Broken Relationships After a Manic Episode “
Tag Archives: healing
Happy Birth Day to Me
You can always count on a doula to remind a mother that her child’s birthday is her birth day too! Every year around my daughter’s birthday my doula friends remind me that as inspiring as it is to witness our little ones blossom, we need to acknowledge our own growth. Today is my birth day.Continue reading “Happy Birth Day to Me”
Madness & Single Motherhood
I think people assume that those of us with a “severe” mental health diagnosis would be the ones in need of caretaking instead of the ones doing the primary caregiving. But here I find myself, almost three years postpartum, a single mom and a mad one at that. When I started my journey as aContinue reading “Madness & Single Motherhood”
Mad Love & The Dilemma of Domestic Violence
It’s time the community of Mad, Neurodivergent, and Mentally Ill people contend with the violence we experience within our community and the violence we may inflict on others. Given the stigma against our community, it is understandable why this has not been a public conversation. I am not trying to play into the stereotype thatContinue reading “Mad Love & The Dilemma of Domestic Violence”
Post-COVID Fatigue
Today I emerged out of what has been a cascading wave of post-COVID fatigue after my recent experience being sick with COVID-19 for the first time. Although I was mostly recovered and tested negative almost two weeks ago, since then I have experienced a frustrating amount of lethargy. This made me face my worst fearContinue reading “Post-COVID Fatigue”
Maintenance is Harder
I realized that I was in the maintenance phase of my recovery when the drama disappeared and life started slowing down. I would have off days like any regular human being, but I did not know how to cope with them. I was so used to dealing with distress that I felt like I couldContinue reading “Maintenance is Harder”
Healing Journey: Depression & the Fear of Fatigue
I have a complicated relationship with rest. For several years, I refused to let myself relax in bed and binge Netflix because this felt too akin to depression. During a major depressive episode in college, I binged 11 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy in one summer sitting in alone in my bed in darkness from morningContinue reading “Healing Journey: Depression & the Fear of Fatigue”
PSA: Perinatal Bipolar Support Group
I am incredibly excited to announce the debut of a new support group which I will co-facilitating called Bipolar Support for Perinatal Moms & Birthing People hosted by Postpartum Support International (PSI). Since not all people with wombs identify as women or mothers, this group welcomes all birthing people (parents who have carried and birthedContinue reading “PSA: Perinatal Bipolar Support Group”
Thinking with Dyane Harwood: Birth of a New Brain
Although I lived with a bipolar diagnosis years before my own crisis with mania and depression during pregnancy, I was intrigued by both the familiarity and foreignness of postpartum bipolar.* As I began to do more research, I stumbled across Dyane Harwood’s memoir Birth of a New Brain: Healing from Postpartum Bipolar Disorder (2017). TheContinue reading “Thinking with Dyane Harwood: Birth of a New Brain”
Emerging Out of the Wormhole
If you follow this blog, you may have notice that I’ve fallen off my weekly posting rhythm. The last couple of weeks have been quite hellish in my head and in my household. My toddler got her first cold and came down with the terrible twos.(The tantrums and antics have been particularly pronounced!) My husband,Continue reading “Emerging Out of the Wormhole”
Nadia Naomi Mbonde 