Sharing My Story as a Content Creator With Bipolar Disorder

I am a mental health content creator living with bipolar 2 disorder. I did not seek this out initially. In 2022 I started writing a book. This book was a product of a deep depression I had gone into. I needed an outlet for my depression and put pen to paper.

Setting up a social media account

By 2023, I had completed the book and was ready to start the editing process. I was naïve in thinking that this process would take only a couple of weeks. So, I set up a social media account that I wanted to have centered around my book and the process of writing it.

This was assuming I was going to have a book available to sell rather quickly. I would soon realize that the process of editing my book would be closer to 6 months.

I sat there with this newly started social media account and tried to think of what I could talk about while I was waiting on my book. My book is about a woman living with bipolar and all the challenges that someone who is untreated may face. I am also a woman with bipolar.

Sharing my bipolar story online

This blossomed into an Instagram account discussing bipolar disorder. What happened next wasn't something that I was expecting. I ended up growing a community. A community of people that lived with bipolar, knew someone who lived with bipolar, or just those who were living with a mental health condition.

My approach was and has been to put out relatable content with a comedic spin to it. I wanted to find a way to take a serious topic and lighten it up a little bit. So often we get stuck in the trenches of the negative that is associated with mental health conditions, but it isn't always bad, and I want people to see that. Perception is everything.

I started sharing stories of hypomania, depression, anxiety, and stability. I had found my calling without even meaning to. Being a content creator with bipolar has its good times, but also has some hard times.

The connections I've made

The good that has happened is for sure the messages I receive from my followers. I get messages thanking me for showing a different side to mental illness, for helping a person feel seen or heard.

I have gotten messages from family members of those with a mental health condition thanking me for helping them understand what their loved one is going through.

To share or not to share?

The hard side is regardless of being a content creator, I still live with bipolar. It doesn't stop just because I have videos to release. Somedays I am having hard days, but there is a pressure inside me to still deliver on what I started.

There are times that I am fighting a hypomanic or depressive episode and must walk the fine line of what I share publicly versus what I keep to myself.

Grateful for the bipolar community online

Overall, I am grateful that I have been able to have such a supportive community even when it is hard to show up. Despite the ups and downs that come with being in the public eye, I have found that discussing my bipolar so openly has helped me tremendously.

It has helped me end a lot of stigmas I associated with it and with myself. Giving a voice to this condition has made it have less power over me and I hope that is what I am helping to give those who follow me.