Since 1991, I’ve been indexing and reviewing online resources. Yes, that was before the web became popularized and long before Yahoo and others. People needed a way to find the online support groups that existed at the time in the form of newsgroups and mailing lists, but you needed a fair amount of information to join one.
In 1995, we began awarding Web awards to recognize those online resources that really stood out. Flash forward 12 years later and a lot has changed. We aim to give you the best of the best, so you know where to go when you need information, opinion, and support. We’re committed to doing a complete round of awards this time for all the major mental disorders and resources, starting with blogs.
With the invaluable assistance of Sandra Kiume, I present to you 2007’s Best of the Web – Blogs for bipolar disorder. Please be aware, this list was made in 2007 and since that time, most of these blogs have been taken offline. Here’s a more updated list.
A fantastic blog by the personable and candid Liz Spikol. She posts frequently on bipolar news items culled from the mainstream media (and reader contributions) with a special interest in prison reform and related mental health legal issues. A career journalist, she’s got an instinctive affinity for the blog medium. Maybe most importantly, her personal experience with bipolar provides a perspective some blogs lack. The Trouble with Spikol takes a pragmatic view of mental health issues, looking at consumer activism as well as medical advances and humanizing it all. Although the news items are sometimes grim, Liz infuses her blog with lightness, warmth and humour.
This blog no longer exists.
2. Furious Seasons
Depending on your perspective, Philip Dawdy is either a whistleblowing hero or provocative conspiracy theorist. Whether inspiring or annoying, he’s unquestionably a talented writer. (He’s done some terrific investigative blogging about Zyprexa, for example.) With thinking and rethinking, it’s likely you’ll agree with some views and reject others, just as he does. He discusses his own experience with bipolar disorder as well. If you like to be challenged and are keen on good rants, this blog is tops. Philip also has a good take on almost anything having to do with spotting incongruous arguments or behavior, and calling people or companies on it.
This blog no longer exists.
3. John McManamy’s Share Posts
John is not only known for his writing on bipolar spectrum disorders research, he’s received high honors for it. This year he was awarded a Mogens Schou Award for Public Service, joining an exclusive and prestigious list of honorees that include professor of psychiatry, author, and bipolar overachiever Kay Redfield Jamison, family psychotherapy researcher David J. Miklowitz, and the Stanleys of the Stanley Foundation (a major research funding source). John does things a bit differently online. Although he keeps a blog it’s mostly relegated to personal stories and recipes while his most astute, well-researched writing is delivered in McManamy’s Depression and Bipolar Weekly, a subscription-based email newsletter. Eventually its articles become publicly archived at his static web site McMan’s Depression and Bipolar Web. He also wrote a great book that distilled a lot of that knowledge, Living Well With Depression and Bipolar Disorder. The blog keeps everyone current what he’s working on.
This blog no longer exists.
A lesbian psychiatric nurse who has bipolar, “Crazy Tracy” depicts life from both sides of the gurney. Her blog is personal, emotional and powerfully written. With severe bipolar I, Tracy is often hospitalized or recovering from an episode. Her descriptions of manic perceptions and depressive despair are harrowing and real. Unusually (at least in the blogosphere), she’s a proponent of ECT, having undergone many courses of it.
5. DBSA President Sue Bergeson’s Mental Health Blog
Exactly what it describes. The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance’s elected leader keeps a seldom-updated but informative blog with topics ranging from bipolar irritability to spirituality to research and community news. It’s not an especially personal blog, but she does infuse it with anecdotes that make her posts vivid and accessible.
This blog no longer exists.
6. Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted)
GrrlScientist is a molecular evolutionary biologist in New York City, a person with bipolar and a Ph.D. looking for work in zoology. She chronicles her progress and struggles with hospitalization, career, survival and academia. This is an acclaimed blog written with personality and doused with plenty of science (and beautiful related photos).
This blog no longer exists.
“Your neighborhood misanthropic, buxom, bondage-positive, bipolar, bisexual, flying, loquacious hedonist.” She is trying to get a VNS implant, which is unusual since so far they’ve only been used experimentally for treatment-resistant depression (they are FDA-approved for epilepsy) and not bipolar since it theoretically could trigger mania. She writes descriptively about horrific depression, so it’s easy to see why she’s considering a VNS implant as an option. The outcome should be interesting.
8. Been Broken
Very poetic and thoughtful. It feels delicate but has an undercurrent of strength, which describes many people who have a bipolar disorder but few write this eloquently in a blog.
Blog made private.
9. Trick Cycling for Beginners
A bipolar junior psychiatrist in the UK. Life seems pretty hectic.
Honorable mention: Anxiety, Addictions and Depression Treatments. Not limited to bipolar disorders, and not written by a bipolar writer (not overtly, at least). It is, though, a good source of research news digested for consumers.
Blog made private.
58 comments
I am missing finding optimism
http://www.findingoptimism.com
Written by someone with boplar disorder and an excellent blog to my opinion, regards,
Dr Shock
Thanks very informative to share other blogs
I am honored, and humbled. Thanks for including me.
I enjoyed Reading Tracy’s blog so much, but two ddays later i get the Message it doesn’t exist anymore.
I’m the writer of Caught In My Burble. Thanks for including me in the list. It’s always nice to have an admirer. I’m obviously completely biased, but I appreciate anyone shining light on this mostly misunderstood disorder.
Aw. I think http://thesecretlifeofamanicdepressive.wordpress.com should have been nominated. It’s excellent.
One excellent blog that deserves to be on this list is http://thesecretlifeofamanicdepressive.wordpress.com/ written by a young Irishwoman living in London.
I agree that both blogs mentioned above in the comments section deserve a look if you’re interested in this topic.
Thankyou for the award 🙂
Hello. Thanks for collecting and sharing these Bipolar blogs. I have started my own blog on being bipolar. I have been the CEO of 2 companies and a senior executive at 5 others. Several of these companies have been successes despite my having bipolar. I was diagnosed 12 years ago, and have been on medication since. I’m in the process of writing a novel – The Bipolar CEO – and my blog includes parts of the book, and deals with issues like jobs, being fired, family, medication, relationships, etc.
— Greg, the Bipolar CEO
http://www.bipolarceo.com
There’s some special secret Sale link on Amazon, EBay, etc. where you can find very good discounts:
http://bargains-hunter.blogspot.com/2007/10/how-to-find-bargains-at-amazons-secret.html
[url=http://bargains-hunter.blogspot.com/2007/10/how-to-find-bargains-at-amazons-secret.html]Bargains Hunter[/url]
I’ve seen discounts there as low as 75% off sticker Price.
Thought you might like to know that my blog was featured on UK national radio yesterday. I read some short extracts and talked about blogging, mental health, and stigma. You can listen to the piece via the BBC website (link below) where there is also a podcast of the whole show. Again, thanks for the award 😉
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/ipm/2007/11/blog_therapy_1.shtml
That’s great news. Thanks for the update!
I don’t advocate electroshock unless its to truely save ones life rather than simply aggressively treat symptoms. You have to consider the variability of the type selected, the effectiveness and safety record of the treatment team and the underlying health and medications and support network of the individual, and accept probable memory problems following its use. If the original diagnosis isn’t right, then that may be why they aren’t responding to the medication or therapy. Concommitant personality disorders, history of abuse, drug abuse, ptsd, adhd, thyroid illness and diabetes, and simply a lack of good nutrition and exercise or a job or school can really muck up the works. Electroshock won’t treat any of those very well.
I visit this blog on a regularly and think it should be added to the list.
I Am Bipolar – Random Scribbles
http://www.iambipolar.ca/blog
I saw this signing blog by a hearing-impaired counselor about bipolar disorder. I think it should be added to the list, too.
http://www.ascdeaf.com/blog/?p=333
One of the best and the brightest blogs for help in withdrawing from the medications is Bipolar Blast – http://bipolarblast.wordpress.com
I’m glad I found this site as a resourse. Some great blogs in the Top Ten, I’ve been reading and commenting over @ The Trouble With Spikol now for a while.
I have now created my own blog site. I’m probably not even in the top fifty or one hundred for that matter, But it is different and definately Bipolar. You can check out my Bipolar blog anywise if you wish:
http://bipolar-stanscroniclesandnarritive.blogspot.com/
I too have been running a blog where I’ve just “come out” on my Bi-Polar disorder stop by and check out Justakrusen.blogspot.com. Thanks for this top ten list.
I’m going to throw my hat in the ring for people to check out. It’s a relatively new site but I try to give an understanding of what’s it like living with bipolar disorder, but with plenty of humor thrown in.
Check it out at: http://howisbradley.blogspot.com/
I can only hope that I one day am nominated for this list.
Great list! Caught in my burble is a great blog.
I’m the author of Banjk’s Bipolar Blog…which is back…heheh
May I humbly submit Yoga for Bipolar, a scientific and energetic look at the benefits of yoga for bipolar disorder. Please stop in.
I would like to nominate the two best mental health blogs running at this time for the 2008 awards. First of all, Philip over at Furious Seasons maybe be making the most direct and effective change for mental health on the internet. With over 10,000 regular readers his blog is without any doubt the # 1 mental health blog out there today. Second in line in the running in my humble opinion is “soulful sepulcher” or http://bipolarsoupkitchen-stephany.blogspot.com/ which is written with great conviction and courage by Stephany with cutting edge news and reports on Mental Health abuses, news, and with a wonderful sensitive personal touch to add to it’s capitvating appeal.
yours truly
Stan
http://bipolar-stanscroniclesandnarritive.blogspot.com/
I would like to add my blog in the mix too, but I might need a different category… ie. top 10 blogs that only draw mental health humor cartoons http://www.mentalhealthhumor.today.com
🙂
Chato
I was just wondering when the awards for 2008 were going to be given out. Or have you decided to cancel those and give what’s behind door #2 instead {laughing}.
Stan
Any last minute suggestions? Deadline is Oct 17 for this year’s list.
I like my blog. I admit on some days it’s hard to write, so I go with a cute fix, but there is really raw graphic writing on there, that has moved and touched people.
It would mean a lot to me if you looked at it.
Sincerely,
Susan
http://ifyouregoingthoughhellkeepgoing.blogspot.com/
Like Susan, I won’t be humble — I’ll nominate my own blog, “The Doxieman Blog” at http://community.beliefnet.com/doxieman122.
While seconding Susan’s blog, along with Philip Dawdy’s and Liz Spikol’s blogs as perennials, might I add Therese Borchard’s Beyond Blue blog at http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue?
(Stan made an excellent suggestion with Stephany’s “Soulful Sepulcher” blog as well.)
I nominate Susan and her blog
http://ifyouregoingthoughhellkeepgoing.blogspot.com/
She has the best blog I know about this topic!
In no particular order, I nominate:
1) Furious Seasons;
2) Soulful Sepulcher;
3) Is there something not quite right with Stan;
4) If you’re going through hell…; and
5) In pieces
Matt
This blogger is honest, accurate and diligent. She explores her own bipolar disorder and in so doing gives the reader insightful information about her experience.
All of us have unique perspectives on our bipolar disorders.
Susan Schecter is an excellent writer and an extraordinary blogger who gives us a visceral sense of how it feels to deal with at times intractable depression and mania that won’t quit.
She is a must read for me.
Wow, I am really a neophyte.
The above comment describes one of my favourite bloggers.
I’ve never nominated anyone before, so I didn’t fill out the form correctly.
It refers to If you’re going through hell, keep going.
http://ifyouregoingthoughhellkeepgoing.blogspot.com/
This blogger is honest, accurate and diligent. She explores her own bipolar disorder and in so doing gives the reader insightful information about her experience.
All of us have unique perspectives on our bipolar disorders.
Susan Schecter is an excellent writer and an extraordinary blogger who gives us a visceral sense of how it feels to deal with at times intractable depression and mania that won’t quit.
She is a must read for me.
Philip Dawdy’s Furious Seasons http://www.furiousseasons.com/ is required reading for me.
I’m new to blogging and I begin my day reading him. He is my compass. He leads the pack in reporting about how Big Pharma is in bed with the mental health medical profession and the impact this illicit relationship is having on people, young and old, struggling with their mental illnesses.
He is a smart, savvy, sensitive and skilled journalist, deserving of this award for his relentless monitoring of a situation that is so ethically off course. He should be in print.
Now, I’m going to be shamelessly self-promotional and nominate my own blog…”Coming Out Crazy” … not easy for me.
http://thestar.blogs.com/mentalhealth/
“Coming Out Crazy” runs in Canada’s largest newspaper, “The Toronto Star,” and it’s we went live in June. For 48 years, I’ve lived with a serious mental illness (several diagnoses including schizophrenia and manic depression) but now I’m in Recovery.
That’s what I’m trying to shed light on in my blog… that we’re all a little crazy sometimes and that there’s more to mental wellness than what the mainstream biomedical – psychiatry – offers. Drugs.
Lithium destroyed my kidney (I only had one) 14 years ago. I almost died of acute “iatrogenic” endstage kidney failure. There’s something wrong with a system that’s grounded on the theory that chemical imbalances in the brain cause mental illnesses.
This is not true. It’s not right. Especially for children. I have a great deal to learn and I’m learning it from the blogs I’ve nominated above and a great many others.
I nominate these exceptional blogs:
Furious Seasons
The Trouble With Spikol
Charlottesville Prejudice Watch
Going Through Hell
a beautiful revolution
grow-a-brain
I wouldn’t characterize these creations as bipolar or depressed. The blog authors just happen to be moody.
Cheers,
Moira
Just wanted to add this note to those choosing the the top ten this year! “The trouble with Spikol” has gone from a mental health focused site, to more of a political blog! I used to enjoy Her and the blog; now I avoid it at all cost! Just to much bias and poison for me.
Stan
Just FYI for all Stephany’s fans – I appreciate your appreciating her blog, but since she’s not bipolar it doesn’t qualify. Sorry.
Hi Sandra,
I have a dx of Bipolar II. I currently take Lamictal for it, and have since December 2006. I have been reducing Xanax as a questionable med that has been in place for over 9 years, and it brought my thinking about as to whether or not I was “medicating my emotions and life experience” thus personally questioning my Bipolar II dx.
As with Philip Dawdy at Furious Seasons, I have learned (much from him) about managing my stimuli and life style, and one day if all meds are removed will wonder if I was in fact dx Bipolar correctly or not, the same as Philip Dawdy who is off medication for over one year now, (Furious Seasons).
I write extensively about my daughter and her struggles with a schizophrenic dx; and many of my posts are of medication withdrawals I went through the last 2 years.
Thank you to everyone who has been nominating me, I was quite surprised and heart-warmed to see this!
Stephany at soulful sepulcher blog (bipolar soup kitchen)
.
Yeah yeah, shamelessly nominating my blog as well. http://lifenotworking.blogspot.com
It’s more of a diary and a way for me to vent about the daily struggles, and it’s a good way to map my moodswings. For some reason people read it. I’ve been diagnosed wit Bipolar disorder type II for six years, and I just started a new medication.
I’m giving myself a pat on the back for the design.
This is a new website that looks at bipolar disorder from two points of view i.e. that of a sufferer, and that of a supporter.
There’s no way Im nominating mine as I’ve only just started it! But please take a look! It’s in its infancy but I’d welcome more followers if you’d please click and join!:-) Even if you just humour me!! LOL!
Thanks, Northern Monkey
http://www.bipolar999.blogspot.com/
i wish i ad a website like this one.very useful info
I have a question. I am Bi-polar and ofcourse everybody treats me like crap in my family, doesn’t want me around. I no longer have any friends. I never really had any friends since childhood, since I was bi-polar and then undiagnosed. I became homeless and lived with my father, who bought me a house just to get me out of his. My 25 year old son lives with me, and is going to start college in two weeks. I get the sinking feeling that he doesn’t want to live with me either, and I don’t really blame him. Life had to be a bitch growing up with an undiagnosed bi-polar mother. I’m on meds now but I don’t think it’s going to change anything as far as our mother/son relationship. I feel the damage has already been done. I think maybe I should give him the house and move out. Right now I am supporting him financialy with my disability check. I don’t feel bad about it because I want him to finish college and have a good life. But I still feel that I should get out of his life, and let him be? It’s got to be tough and embarassing to live with your mother at 25, and tough living with a mother who is a loonytoon. Should I move away? I’m on Lamictal 150 mg. I’m starting to get depressed again. Is there other meds that might work better for the depression, and still keep the manic at bay? And should I move out of my family’s lives? I get the feeling that they would all be better off without me. Why is it so hard for others to understand that being bi-polar is tough, and I don’t mean to be a pain in the ass? Sometimes I don’t understand it myself, but how do you make people understand? How can you let them know that you love them when they think you’re insane, and don’t take you seriously? Should I move away?
I don’t know if anyone has told you what it is like to be in a family with someone that is bypolar, but it is a very difficult situation to deal with. I dont’ know how you are with your family, but I can tell you how my sister is with mine. She is self absorbed. The world must revolve around her or it must be ending. We can’t joke around with her about any topic without her taking it very personal. Then she puts us on a guilt trip and makes us feel bad. She is ready to tell everyone what they are doing wrong with their lives. But God forbid you should say something about what she is doing wrong with hers. She is not suppose to drink with the meds she is on, but she dose. Getting drunk and hanging out at the bar is her favorite thing to do. She is married to a wonder guy that puts up with all of her crap. Kellie is so self absorbed that it’s almost like she is stuck in a mirror with nothing to see but her reflection. It’s like she doesn’t see how her disorder is destroying her family. We have dealt with her disorder for over ten years now. And I do have to say that I love my sister more than she will ever know, but I am ready to sell my house and leave the country to get away from this heart breaking illness that drags us all down. I’m so tired I could scream and shake my fist at God and ask him why?????? I’m so tired I could lay down and die. So don’t be so down on family and friends when they start bailing on you. It’s not that they don’t want to be around you. It’s honest to say they probably feel beaten down, and just need a bit of a break. It’s very disheartening to love someone so much and always feeling like you are walking on eggshells when you’re around them. And if we couldn’t walk away for a bit of a break we would probably go crazy. I’m sure your family loves you very much. Maybe they just need a break, or maybe your are reading too much into it. My sister does that a lot. Good luck with your life and try to be more understanding of those that love you. I know they have tried to be more understanding of you.
Has anyone seen the “Raging Innocence” blog (http://raginginnocence.wordpress.com/)? It is fantastic, and worth a mention.
Sorry, that link didn’t work. Here it is again: http://raginginnocence.wordpress.com/
I am not a textbook or an information site about Bipolar. What I try to express in my blog is the reality of having a mental health illness. There is hundreds of websites that label me with Bipolar and a long list of classic symptoms. No one talks about how you actually feel and the reality of the condition. No one fits into textbook criteria, in fact all mental health conditions overlap incredibly. Just because two people are labelled with Bipolar doesn’t mean they feel the same, react the same, are medicated the same or have any of the same symptoms. My blog is an inside view of my life, my real thoughts, opinions, emotions, feelings and actions of how someone really feels with Bipolar
awesome blog. you can visit my blog that talks about the real life style of a schizophrenic and bipolar person.
Hi, can someone point me in the direction of something very basic? please. I’m bipolar I or II or something… different doctors say different things. I stuck to my bipolar I doctor for 2 or 3 years. Recently, Everything changed drastically… New country, new language, new responsibilities, etc. My new life has a beautiful family to whom i’m still some kind of stranger and, it lacks my girlfriend, my friends, my apt and surroundings, my doctors, my pets… I could keep going and start enjoying feeling sorry for myself… I went back for a visit and I triggered something very bad! I lost control… I lost a lot more than that! wires are crossed and this post is my first effort against apathy. newbie at this. Thanx
I’d like to nominate the following blog — it doesn’t “market” itself as a bipolar blog, but instead as a pre-med student blog. The student, mid-twenties, writes very intimately about her experiences being hospitalized in the middle of the semester and eventually honing in on a diagnosis of bipolar II.
http://www.mezzomedical.blogspot.com
My Bipolar Blog http://www.lithiumandchips.com has been shortlisted a number of times for various awards set by the English arts council and is currently nominated for the Manchester blog awards 2011
The blog is a light hearted look at my life with bipolar to try and prove that there is life after diagnosis