A 31-year journey: Mental health writer Louise Dwerryhouse shares her remarkable story living with bipolar disorder.
Louise revisits the events and lost years following her diagnosis, including years of battling depression, mania, and multiple hospitalizations. She also shares the most important factors and strategies she implemented to ultimately achieve stability, and offers advice to listeners who are also living with bipolar disorder. Hosted by Dr. Erin Michalak.
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Louise Dwerryhouse, a retired social worker, who worked in Canada and the UK, is an advocate, and mental health blogger on “lived experience” living in Vancouver, British Columbia. She was diagnosed with bipolar I disorder late in life, over 30 years ago at the age of thirty-five, and has been living well with the disorder for 10+ years. She writes to those alone, frightened and traumatized by volatile mood swings such as she had in her early days post-diagnosis. Louise tries to lead by example, by sharing her journey to recovery, showing it is possible to live well with the disorder. Her dream is to see a society centred on acceptance, inclusion and less stigma in her lifetime.
Chapters & Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
01:17 When I Realized I Had Bipolar Disorder
04:00 Rapid Cycling – “I Called Myself Crazy”
05:05 Depression, Suicide, Hospitalizations & Mania – “I Systematically Destroyed My Marriage”
07:27 My Journey of Finding Stability
13:36 Establishing Control Over Bipolar Disorder
15:20 Managing General Anxiety Disorder & Bipolar Disorder
18:46 Advice to My Younger Self
21:00 Identifying Warning Signs of Mania
23:46 How Do We Deal with the Years Lost to Bipolar Disorder?
28:54 A Message To Those Who Have Just Been Diagnosed
More on Louise’s Bipolar Story
Why do care givers like my mother hide 21 years that I have Bipolar Disorder. Though I am on medication since 1992when I was 18 years old What kind of fears she had!! That it is 10 years ago made her make me aware that yes I have Bipolar Disorder.How to face same people & friends with whom you did wrong or misbehaved during your manic and psychotic episode. Aftermaths of that phase and when you are to manage your phase by medication. Then you go back to same people and friend but they don’t understand that Bipolar Disorder made unstable and It changed my energy levels and charachter that is why It changed my behaviour with them in public. How to explain to your friend whose friendship matters to you, I am 49 years old today but started educating myself only 10 years ago when in my manic I troubled my friend without any fault of her.
How do you manage, reverse or cope with cognitive disorder? I am 65, 12 Hospitalization and 50 ECT. Even when not depressed, my comprehension and memory test my morale.