When I rescued a dog, I never imagined the impact she would have on my mental health. Sure, her presence and warmth was calming and healing, but my dog Amber taught me a crucial lesson about how to handle my bipolar disorder.

Happy to have a rescue dog in my life, things went downhill when a doctor put me on an antidepressant (which is a risky medication move if you have bipolar illness). And for me, it sent me into mania and then psychosis. In order to get care, I had to leave Amber home alone. And while trapped in a psych hospital, I had no way to get any care for her. As the clocked ticked by, my dog was home alone. She finally did get care, but when I returned, she showed signs of distress and this made me feel awful. She taught me that my illness impacts those around us--especially loved ones.

In this mini-remix I talk to JD about how this experience changed my life and has helped me prevent hospitalizations. Sometimes our greatest teachers have fur and four legs.

Recorded & Edited at ModernTone Studios.

Music composed and performed by guitarist, JD Cullum

Edited by Brandon Moran

Sponsored by Soar With Tapping

What happens when bipolar disorder collides with unexpected pregnancy? For Betsi it was a frightening time knowing a bipolar episode can be triggered by pregnancy and that bipolar illness has a genetic component that may be passed down to your child.

And Betsi had already endured several hospitalizations in her early adulthood. She also was under the care of a doctor who misdiagnosed her and took her off all psychiatric medications, only to result in an episode that could have been prevented. After finding stability with the right psychiatrist and medication, she and her husband had made peace with not having children. But when she unexpectedly became pregnant after nine years of marriage, Betsi soon found herself in the psychiatric ward, experiencing a break from reality while carrying her child.

The recovery process during pregnancy and her daughter's first year was exhausting, but Betsi discovered unexpected reservoirs of strength. Her small-town Ohio community, supportive husband, and Mennonite church provided crucial stability. Most powerfully, she reveals how confronting her own childhood trauma, growing up with an alcoholic father, has been essential to her healing journey – and her determination to break that cycle for her daughter.

Now stable for thirteen years, Betsi's story challenges simplistic notions about bipolar disorder being purely biological, highlighting how childhood environments can influence brain chemistry and mental health outcomes. Her journey offers hope that with proper treatment, support, and courage to face the past, living well with bipolar disorder – even through unexpected challenges – is absolutely possible.

Music composed and performed by guitarist, JD Cullum

Edited by Brandon Moran

Sponsored by Soar With Tapping

What happens when the joyful arrival of a baby triggers an unexpected mental health crisis? When Susan returned home with her newborn, she was in a manic state. Fueled by little sleep with an infant to care for, her behavior became erratic--rushing around the house, even handling her baby carelessly. Her husband David told Susan that it felt like he was suddenly living with two strangers--a wife he didn't recognize and a child he didn't yet know.

It would take their doula's observation and advice that Susan was not just a fatigued new mother, but that she needed immediate help.

However, without effective treatment, Susan went back to work completely manic, losing her job. She would then alternate between a depressive fog and a manic state, ultimately landing her at McLean hospital for a harrowing three week stay. Rebuilding her life would include ECT, years on disability, and finally getting care from expert providers.

Susan's mothering instinct now shines through by coaching those living with bipolar disorder and helping them design lives and careers. Perhaps most movingly, Susan developed a profound bond with her child, now eighteen years old despite such rough early years.

At the top of the show I mention Susan's dedication to Bipolar Social Club, and online support group with weekly meetings, special programming and an online discussion board. As a member, I am grateful for the support BSC offers!

Music composed and performed by guitarist, JD Cullum

Edited by Brandon Moran

Sponsored by Soar With Tapping

At age thirty-two, Tara Cousineau, PhD, had it all. But when a mysterious illness disrupted her life, her doctors blamed it on stress. Knowing something else was at play she searched until she discovered a pinched nerve that was indeed a physical ailment, but also exacerbated by stress.

Looking inward and discovering her own perfectionistic tendencies, Tara knew she wanted to help high achievers prevent burnout and illness. As a therapist, she set out on a path to improve the mental health of others and to educate those striving for excellence at all costs.

In this episode we learn Tara's working definition of perfectionism and how it can have a severe impact on one's quality of life.

Today, Tara works with students at Harvard University and she leads groups on Befriending the Inner Critic and Overcoming Perfectionism through Self-Compassion. She breaks down the parts of ourselves--that self-talk that includes the inner judge, inner bully, inner detective, and the inner joy thief.

She offers insight on how procrastination is linked to perfectionism, how perfectionism has a 40% genetic cause, and how internal family systems can be a breakthrough treatment for many--and how recovery begins by simply learning to sit in one's body, take inventory, and begin to feel.

Tara's The Perfectionist Dilemma, shares research and practical tools for striving for excellence with room for discovery, curiosity, and healthy mistakes along the way.

Listeners can find Dr. Tara’s book, The Perfectionist's Dilemma: Learn the Art of Self-Compassion and Become a Happy Achiever, at online book retailers and access to free Happy Achiever tools at https://perfectionistsdilemma.com.

They can also find more in "The Peaceful Perfectionist" Substack, https://taracousphd.substack.com

Music composed and performed by guitarist, JD Cullum

Edited by Brandon Moran

Sponsored by Soar With Tapping

Kris Rice, founder of The ChillPod, joins me to share her transformative journey with deliberate cold exposure. Growing up with a grandmother who battled bipolar disorder and later supporting her daughter through mental health challenges, Kris developed a deep appreciation for wellness practices. While meditation and yoga provided benefits, they demanded significant time commitments she couldn't sustain as a busy parent.

When a persistent friend suggested cold plunging, Kris initially resisted, but eventually filled a horse trough with cold water, took the plunge, and experienced immediate mental clarity, focus, energy, and mood lift.

This episode is primarily Kris's lived life experience, with science sprinkled throughout. I also share my first-hand experience trying cold plunging at different temperatures, and we discuss common myths surrounding cold therapy, particularly for women. Kris explains how her passion for cold plunging led her to design the ChillPod—a cold plunge specifically created with women's bodies and aesthetics in mind, though suitable for everyone.

This conversation breaks down cold plunging, and makes it feel accessible to anyone in good physical shape (always consult with a doctor before deliberate cold exposure). Are you ready to take the plunge?

Check out The ChillPod HERE

Music composed and performed by guitarist, JD Cullum

Edited by Brandon Moran

Sponsored by Soar With Tapping

What happens when you receive a life-changing mental health diagnosis at 50 years old? For Matty Staudt--broadcast veteran, podcast pioneer, and current co-host of Alice Radio’s Sarah & Vinnie Show--it explained a lifetime of highs and lows.

Matty was an anxious kid, but he assumed everyone experienced anxiety to the same extent. As an adult, he was treated for ADHD and also for depression by primary care doctors. To manage, Matty self-medicated with alcohol until a major crash and relapse at age 50 forced him to see a psychiatrist who finally stepped in and said, this is clearly bipolar 2 disorder.

Matty had been able to live the entrepreneurial lifestyle--which is very common among those with bipolar 2 (where your manic highs never flip into psychosis). He was ultra productive, getting weeks’ worth of work done in a day. Before he considered his rapid cycling between depressed and manic states as just how he operated and a personality flaw as his outbursts made him difficult to deal with at times, in both work and his personal life.

This moment began a transformation and with therapy and medication and support from the bipolar community, Matty has found some calm—even contentment. But he works hard to keep his life balanced, especially when mania still feels alluring. And it’s tough. Stigma is real. For those 50 and up, mental illness was not talked about in our culture and sometimes they are the group needing the most help to push past stigma and shame.

It's never too late to see a mental health professional. It’s never too late to support and encourage a friend or loved one to see a psychiatrist. If you’re seeking a community, please visit BipolarSocialClub.org.

Music composed and performed by guitarist, JD Cullum

Edited by Brandon Moran

Sponsored by Soar With Tapping

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month (existing since 1949!!), I sit down with Ava to talk about how to talk to friends and relatives about mental illness.

Ava has had her own mental health journey, particularly with her father who witnessed a genocide at age six. With signs of a soul in agony, she has yet to engage him in a conversation about his mental health and deep pain.

When it comes to finding therapy and support--yes, the times are actually changing--but most people living with illness must navigate the complicated decision to disclose one's diagnosis, with whom, and how much detail to provide.

As host of Bipolar She, there's no more hiding my diagnosis. Perhaps there will be judgement. But one place I've found support is through friends that have treated me on good days and bad with simple acts of kindness. Sharing an article they read as a way to connect to my experiences. Or being a steady support, taking life moment to moment, while my manic mind was not my own. Compassion is often the best medicine.

Whether you're living with mental health challenges or supporting someone who is, this episode offers practical insight into creating spaces where healing becomes possible through speaking our truths. Ready to break the silence around mental health? Join Ava and me for this chat.

Music composed and performed by guitarist, JD Cullum

Edited by Brandon Moran

Sponsored by Soar With Tapping

Today I sat down with Amy Vincze of Soar With Tapping and had an enlightening and somewhat controversial conversation. Amy, a certified Emotional Freedom Release (EFT) practitioner or "tapping coach," holds a strong belief that depression doesn't just appear out of nowhere—it's often the result of our earliest experiences and the vital emotions we've pushed away to survive.

She believes that if we connect to deep feelings, such as anger, through tapping we can let go of those thoughts and emotions in away that brings us better mental and physical health. Amy shares a personal story of being abandoned by her father and falling into performative and perfectionistic behaviors. By adulthood Amy had completely lost touch with her authentic self and suffered from bulimia and was diagnosed with breast cancer.

And Amy's idea about how breast cancer emerged in her life is a little controversial for those who adhere strictly to Western Medicine. Amy believes that negative stored up emotions since childhood manifested as breast cancer. And she believes that tapping work will prevent illness, both mental and physical.

Throughout our conversation, Amy demonstrates how tapping works through a powerful combination of meridian stimulation, cognitive processing, and somatic experience. She explains how tapping counterintuitively leans into difficult emotions like anger, creating a safe container for their expression and release. Our real-time tapping session on embracing anger shows how acknowledging these shadow emotions frees us from their grip rather than making them worse. And please visit Amy's app, Soar with Tapping, or her website here for a generous discount on a year subscription of this fantastic resource: Soar With Tapping Podcast Discount.

Follow us at bipolarshepod.com or @bipolarshepod on Instagram to continue the conversation.

Music composed and performed by guitarist, JD Cullum

Edited by Brandon Moran

Sponsored by Soar With Tapping