Welcome to my blog on mental illness and recovery. I thought I'd begin with a little list of things I hope to cover: 

• The disease and symptoms I live with. I promise you and I to be brutally honest about bipolar disorder, severe depression, anxiety, paralyzing panic attacks and the like.
• The meaning of the small triumphs and huge hurdle.
• Isolation and loneliness.
• Creativity and Recovery.
• Unusual means to healing.
• The importance and failures of friends and family.
• The importance of pets and other animals.
• What your friends and family cannot and probably will never understand.
• The dance of disability and self-advocacy.
• One step at a time.
• Music.
• Resources you may not know about.
• Benefits available when and if you are ready, including school and those old student loans.
• What you see and hear in the media and from other people when they don't know a mentally ill person is in the room.
• Dealing with shame from those around you.
• Weight gain and loss.
• Anger.
• Grieving the losses.
• Retrieving the important parts of yourself and finding the new. 

Some of this will no doubt overlap, and some will turn into multiple entries on the same subject. I am not an expert, just another bipolar person who wants and needs to speak out and to speak to those like me and those who want to learn. I'd like this to be a shared experience; your thoughts, ideas and suggestions are always welcome. I hope this becomes a resource of comfort and information. 

My little disclaimer: Please seek help of medical professionals if you are or believe you are experiencing a mental illness. I would not be alive without my therapist and psychiatrist, not to mention the cocktail of drugs I take, even when I don't want to.