Bipolar disorder is a mostly referred to as a mood disorder. If you pick up the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, otherwise known as the DSM-5, the weighty tome that psychiatrists and psychologists use to diagnose mental health conditions, you’ll find bipolar disorder diagnostic criteria listed under the heading […]

“Hi Jenny! What are you working today?” The voice, that of a coworker I barely know, is friendly, inquisitive, enthusiastic. She is decked out in full workout gear and is holding the tiny notebook and pen that so many elite weightlifters use at our gym. Not being familiar with the practice myself, I assume they

They go by different names. “Episode with mixed features.” “Dysphoric mania.” “Mixed states.” But whatever they are called, they are among the most desperate manifestations of bipolar disorder. They take the worst parts of mania and grind them up together with the worst parts of depression. This means that, among other things, patients report feeling

The patient[1] is a forty-year-old woman who walks with the heavy use of crutches. She has been referred, as is sometimes the case with the more extreme stories of human suffering, directly from the inpatient psychiatry unit at the hospital after a nearly lethal medication overdose.[2] She is in my office today on the heels

The tape measure feels cold in my hands. I try to be casual as I wrap it around the widest part of my hips, as the boutique’s website directs. Forty-two inches. Sigh. The waist is next, though it’s hard to even find the narrowest part as the instructions dictate. It all seems to be blurring

The pills feel light in my hand, belying the importance that they bring to my moods. They are small perfect circles, in a pale pink shade, that feel, in this moment, like they have no business being so damn heavy. They are only pills, after all. Why should my brain chemistry and indeed entire swaths

The questioning is gentle yet insistent, probing into the deepest layers of my psyche with synchronized kindness and precision. She asks me about my moods, about the low lows and high highs that I have already identified to be my issues of greatest concern. Asks what they look like, how long they last, when they