This edgy, illustrated black-and-white and occasionally red graphic novel plays out in vignettes from Cobain’s life both before he became famous and after. A must-read for any Nirvana fan.
DetailsFile this one in your basket of deplorables. This Halloween costume communicates that all mentally ill people are dangerous — and that’s an extremely disgusting assertion. The “Insane Skitzo Adult Costume” not only perpetuates the stereotype that people who are mentally ill are criminal and violent, but it makes light of us and our struggles.
DetailsHillary Clinton is on our side. Those of us with mental illness will have an ally in the White House if she becomes president.
DetailsScientists and researchers are closing in on identifying the genetic cause of bipolar disorder, according to a new study.
DetailsIn the 1980s, when AIDS was first emerging, Sir Elton John was a wicked cocaine fiend. But he rose from addiction as a superstar performer and AIDS activist.
DetailsSleep is restorative. But so many of us with bipolar disorder have sleep disturbances. Here are four ways to ensure sound sleep and avoid nightmares.
DetailsPrince — who suffered from incapacitating hip pain due to years performing in high heels — died from an accidental opioid overdose, the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office revealed Thursday.
DetailsLittle known fact: Bill Wilson, the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, took LSD and was an advocate for the drug in the 1950s.
DetailsRecovering opioid addict, activist, and artist Macklemore paid a special visit to the White House on Saturday to talk addiction with President Obama.
DetailsOpioid-overdose deaths have nearly tripled since 2000, and Congress is finally doing something about it. Several bills passed in the House on Thursday to combat opioid addiction.
DetailsRoughly 46,000 Americans die each year from drug-related deaths, according to the DEA. More than half of those are from prescription opioids and heroin. Here’s three ways you can get rid of your old medication responsibly so that it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands..
DetailsFentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 40 to 50 times stronger than pure heroin. Its purpose is to alleviate chronic pain, but a growing number of people are using it recreationally.
DetailsThe opioid epidemic in this country is unequivocally a disaster. But there’s a miracle drug that could stop those overdose deaths: Narcan.
DetailsJazz great Miles Davis just may have been bipolar, according to Don Cheadle, who plays the triumphant trumpeter in a new biopic he directed titled Miles Ahead, in theaters now.
DetailsWhat if doctors could look at your genetic makeup and offer you a tailor-made treatment plan? Drugs personalized for your unique, individual brain.
DetailsChances are, if you are questioning whether or not you are an alcoholic, you probably are one. You think you can take it or leave it when it comes to drinking. But can you?
DetailsWhile opioids like OxyContin remain the biggest threat to public health in the realm of prescription drugs, anti-anxiety medications — or benzodiazapines, also known as “benzos” — are a close second.
DetailsAt the proposed facility, a nurse would be onsite and armed with naloxone, an opioid overdose antidote, in order to prevent ODs or other complications.
DetailsThe current heroin epidemic is killing thousands each year, and the problem only gets worse over time. This story is a precautionary tale, a fair warning about the dangers of heroin — the most addictive drug of them all.
DetailsMoody to be sure, Beethoven was many things: depressed, manic, euphoric, prolific, arrogant, unkempt, financially reckless, egotistical, suicidal, self-centered, a hypochondriac, and an alcoholic, to name a few. But his music — some would argue — is the best ever written.
DetailsTrent Reznor is the mastermind behind Nine Inch Nails, an industrial rock band whose instant classic Pretty Hate Machine debuted with a roar in 1989. Sober now, he has struggled with depression and social anxiety for years and is a notorious alcoholic and addict. He writes about it in his music.
DetailsCharlie Sheen has appeared in a whopping 69 films. That’s in addition to his highly successful turn in the sitcom Two and a Half Men. Sheen was diagnosed with HIV in 2011. Just this week, he announced a new diagnosis: bipolar disorder.
DetailsNew in theaters, Touched With Fire is an indie film starring Katie Holmes and Luke Kirby that tells the story of two bipolar poets in love. The acting isn’t great, and it isn’t horrible. It’s the script that’s the problem.
DetailsBen Affleck fell off the wagon. After 12 years of sobriety, the Batman actor decided to imbibe again for his role in Gone Girl, playing a character who is hungover all the time. Affleck is an alcoholic. The Oscar-winner entered rehab in 2001 at the age of 31. Affleck battled alcoholism throughout the 1990s, culminating in his check-in to rehab at Promises, the same rehab that treated Robert Downey, Jr. Affleck was married to fellow Hollywood star Jennifer Garner, but she pulled the plug on the relationship, fed up with Ben’s drinking and gambling.
DetailsOn this — the fourth anniversary of my sobriety — I’m proud to say that my bipolar family has grown in ways I couldn’t possibly imagine. Your support for me — on my blog, on Facebook, and elsewhere — has been the motivation I’ve needed to keep going.
DetailsDonald Trump remains an outlier when it comes to the issue of addiction. His stance is antiquated and obsolete. It’s pure hogwash, rhetoric of a bygone era.
DetailsAllie C. writes: If you could take away your bipolar and be “normal,” would you?
DetailsNorwegian artist Edvard Munch’s masterpiece The Scream is as iconic as The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh, Guernica by Pablo Picasso, and The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dalí. It has been called “A Mona Lisa for our time.” And it was born out of a bipolar hallucination.
DetailsAddicts are negligent and neglectful derelicts who are to be castigated and marginalized in society. That’s 20th Century thinking. Bernie and Hillary — on the other hand — understand the mental health aspects of the disease of addiction as they voiced their opinions in Sunday’s Democratic debate.
DetailsWould you like to be held accountable for taking your meds? What if your doctor or your mom, for example, knew exactly if and when you took your pills? Yes, Big Brother is watching you, again.
DetailsHerring. Mackerel. Salmon. Halibut. Tuna. Swordfish. All of these types of fish contain what are called omega-3 fatty acids. Because of their biological importance to the brain, omega-3s just may be helpful in the treatment of bipolar depression.
DetailsSubjects in the study were randomly assigned to go on a 90-minute walk through nature in a quiet, leafy area of the Stanford campus. Or on the flipside, next to a noisy highway in Palo Alto, California. The nature walkers experienced lower levels of rumination and showed reduced activity in an area of the brain linked to risk for mental illness.
DetailsScott Weiland — frontman for Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver and a bipolar addict for years — died Friday in his sleep, reportedly of a heart attack. He was 48.
DetailsThe Grammy-winning singer revealed she had bipolar disorder on The Oprah Winfrey Show in October of 2007. However, it was later revealed that her bipolar diagnosis was incorrect. What she had really been experiencing was depression influenced by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), stemming from her tumultuous childhood. O’Connor is in the news this week because she tried to kill herself again.
DetailsThe darkness creeps in at 5:37PM today. It just makes me want to go to sleep. I get home from work around 6:30, eat dinner, then go to bed most nights not long after. My gift to you this winter is this mix. It’s made up of songs that are either about happiness or that sound happy. A cure for Seasonal Affective Disorder.
DetailsStan Getz and João Gilberto are the debonair and dynamic duo of bossa nova. I can think of no album that inspires more tranquility than Getz/Gilberto, the 1965 Grammy winner for Best Album of the Year.
DetailsCreed was a late ‘90s alternative-rock band with a Christian bent. Extreme paranoia gripped Creed lead singer Scott Stapp in November 2014, when he experienced his first major manic episode. He made a cryptic YouTube video documenting his hallucinations.
DetailsI don’t know about you, but the holidays are the toughest time for me to stay sober. There’s nothing more comforting than a glass of wine or champagne to celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, or to ring in the New Year. Maybe it has something to do with the association between wine and food, and there’s so much of both this time of year.
DetailsI knew there was a reason why I can feel the music. Why tiny little flourishes of notes or guitar riffs or drumbeats can make my entire body tingle instantly.
DetailsBradley Cooper stole my heart — not in The Hangover movies but in Silver Linings Playbook, in which he gave a strikingly accurate portrayal of what it’s like to live with bipolar disorder. But a little known fact about Cooper is that he is a recovering addict. In sobriety, he’s become a master at his craft.
DetailsKatie Holmes has been mostly lying low the past few years, appearing in small indie flicks as opposed to big Hollywood vehicles. Now the Batman Begins actress is back in her indie comfort zone with Touched With Fire, a film about two bipolar poets in love.
DetailsIt’s happened to all of us. You open your medicine cabinet right before bed and there’s a gaping hole. One of your pill bottles isn’t there — because it was empty this morning so you threw it out. You didn’t get around to refilling the ‘script in the daytime. Now the pharmacy is closed and you’re trapped.
DetailsI work in a bakery at a gourmet grocery store. I am perfectly comfortable saying that I’m writing a book. I only work three days a week so that I have free time to write, which my coworkers know. But when people ask what the book is about, I am reticent to tell them.
DetailsAs a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat, I never thought in a zillion years I would agree with anything Governor of New Jersey and Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie is saying. But what he’s saying — a sympathetic plea for us addicts — is groundbreaking.
DetailsOne of the most outspoken opponents of bipolar stigma is Demi Lovato, the former Disney star turned multimedia darling who is bipolar and has also struggled with addiction, bulimia, and self-harm.
DetailsIt’s ignorant to think that people with mood disorders can just power through their days with the help of God and the steps. It just doesn’t work that way. Some of us need medication because of our conditions.
DetailsYou are 100 percent unique. Your brain has an individualized fingerprint. One that could be used to specialize treatment for your bipolar or for others who have different types of mood disorders, says new study.
DetailsSoft and sensational, Belle & Sebastian’s The Boy With the Arab Strap tranquilizes the listener with its amalgam of subtle instrumentation. Belle & Sebastian are a Scottish twee-pop band with nine albums under their belt. Twee pop is sensitive and romantic. With its jingle-jangle guitars, it has the feel and idealism of ‘60s pop.
DetailsJimi Hendrix is a touchstone in American culture. To say he is a rock icon is an understatement. Hendrix transcends rock ‘n’ roll. But from alcohol to marijuana to LSD to cocaine, he was a notorious addict.
DetailsMusic — a soothing force — can be extremely therapeutic in cases of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, autism, PTSD, dementia, asthma, speech impairment, and acute pain.
DetailsRaw Power. It’s the title of the 1973 third album by Iggy and the Stooges. And it describes Iggy Pop to a T. An extreme heroin addict, Iggy Pop is a punk icon. He was a punk even before there was something called “punk.”
Pop was notorious for reckless performance antics — indecent exposure, rolling around shirtless in broken glass (he always performs shirtless) — and vomiting on the audience. He invented the stage dive.
David Bowie attacks rock ’n’ roll as if it were performance art. A musical chameleon, Bowie is a glam-rock god. But he was out of control with drugs.
DetailsWhen you’re first diagnosed with bipolar disorder, it can take up to a year or more to get on the right medication cocktail. But what if you could feel results instantaneously? With Low-Field Magnetic Stimulation, you can.
DetailsI can think of no album that is happier than The Flaming Lips’ 1993 noise-pop masterpiece Transmissions From the Satellite Heart.
DetailsHalsey is a tough girl with a rebellious mystique. A rare commodity in this world of plastic music, she is a pop star who writes all her own material. Her debut album Badlands currently sits at number 16 on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums chart. It peaked at number two. She’s accomplished all of this in the face of bipolar.
DetailsWhen I saunter into my day job, I see a spectrum of color. Delicious desserts like colorful cupcakes. Sinful donuts. Rainbow-sprinkled cookies. And everything from cannoli to tiramisu. Depressed Cake Shop aims to raise awareness about depression by baking dark and dreary desserts. It’s a pop-up shop traveling the world.
DetailsWhile it can’t be easy keeping up with a busy filming schedule, she’s managed to do it, despite her bipolar, proving once again that our illness does not have to be not debilitating.
DetailsThere are no brain scans, X-rays, or MRIs that can identify bipolar disorder or any other mood disorder. But pee? Yes, your urine might be able to help discern what mood disorder you may have.
DetailsNew Jersey punks Titus Andronicus just dropped an atomic bomb of a double album, The Most Lamentable Tragedy, a 29-song, 93-minute blood-and-guts opus about frontman Patrick Stickles’ struggles with bipolar disorder.
DetailsShe is truly one of the greatest jazz singers of all time, if not the greatest. And she was also a hardcore alcoholic and addict. Her drink of choice was a Top and Bottom — half gin, half port wine.
DetailsI thought virtual reality was a relic of the ‘90s – clunky headsets never to be seen again in this world of smartphones and tablets. But no, it’s being used for medical purposes — particularly to simulate environments for mental health patients.
DetailsI’ve been to my fair share of concerts — around 600 according to my estimation, most of them punk shows. And one thing that is always ubiquitous is weed. If you have to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol in order to enjoy a concert, you’re doing it wrong.
DetailsSometimes I think “What if I never took a psychotropic med in my life? Would I still be bipolar?” My mania was triggered by the antidepressant Prozac.
DetailsRobert Downey, Jr. is at the top of his game. He’s the highest-paid actor not just in Hollywood but the world — he made $80 million last year, according to Forbes. And he’s sober, having kicked alcohol, cocaine, and heroin.
DetailsThe best tattoos are ones with hidden meanings, something that is thinly veiled but important to the person. Almost everyone has a dark past of some kind, especially those of us with bipolar or other psychiatric illnesses. What if you could symbolically put an end to that past? That’s what Project Semicolon is all about.
DetailsHe’s got more than 11 million Twitter followers, is the author of 10 books, and has taken on roles in The Hobbit films. He’s also played characters in V for Vendetta, and the Sherlock Holmes movies, among others. The outspoken, gay Fry was diagnosed at age 37 with Bipolar I disorder. And he talks about it at length in the media.
DetailsAre you bipolar or an addict looking for insight from a like-minded soul? Have a loved one suffering from bipolar or addiction and want some inside advice? While I’m not a doctor or medical expert, I can tell you about my experiences with this dual diagnosis and look to support others with replies. Note that…
DetailsQuirky. Eccentric. Adorable. In Infinitely Polar Bear, the bipolar character Cam Stuart is a super-likable guy. Played by Mark Ruffalo, Cam is a fun-loving father in a family of four just trying to get by. Bipolar characters are few and far between in high-profile pop culture. There’s Pat, the bipolar football fanatic played by Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook, and Carrie Mathison, the bipolar CIA agent played by Claire Danes in the hit Showtime TV show Homeland. And that’s about it. Until now.
DetailsWhether it’s showing his support for same-sex marriage or talking candidly about his addiction, Macklemore is one of the most genuine rappers making hip-hop today. Macklemore’s 2012 Grammy-winning album with Ryan Lewis, The Heist, is chock full of references to his drinking days and the demons he fought while trying to get sober.
DetailsFits of rage. Depression. Mania. Addiction. Angst. These are the essential ingredients of In Utero, an album that foreshadows bipolar genius Kurt Cobain’s suicide.
Details“She walks in beauty like the night.” We’ve all heard that poem. It was written by Lord Byron, the 19th-century English poet, a man who also struggled with manic depression.
DetailsThe authenticity of the psychosis, depression and anxiety remains to be seen, but take a gander at these screenshots from the game, scheduled for release on PS4 and Microsoft Windows in 2016.
DetailsConor Oberst, a.k.a. Bright Eyes, is perhaps the greatest songwriter of my generation. Evoking bipolar and depression, this album is as moody as it gets.
DetailsThe plight of the mentally ill is not unlike that of the gay population. Like any minority group, sometimes we feel like we are second-class citizens. Like any minority group, sometimes the mentally ill feel like they are second-class citizens. Gays and lesbians for the most part used to feel misunderstood. Ostracized. Stigmatized. In some parts of the country and in certain circles, they still do. But for those of us with bipolar and other mental illnesses, we are also stigmatized to the extreme.
DetailsWith all the fame and fortune comes great instability and hardship as with many who live in the world of celebrity. Until he got sober in 2008, Eminem had a problem with prescription drugs – particularly Vicodin, Valium, and Ambien. According to an interview with Rolling Stone, the pill-popping was intense. “In a day I could consume anywhere from 40 to 60 Valium. And Vicodin… maybe 20, 30? I don’t know. I was taking a lot of shit.”
DetailsRainy day albums have a distinct, mysterious quality to them. Sometimes dark. Other times quiet and delicate. Always moody. But definitely ethereal. See if any of your favorites made the list and weigh in.
DetailsThere are songs that paint a vivid picture of drug and alcohol abuse and there are songs that glorify it. For this list, I focused on the former. These are songs that describe addiction to a T. Most of these artists know what it’s like to be stuck in the spider hole of addiction. They’ve lived to tell these cautionary tales.
DetailsWe’ve all encountered people who don’t understand our disease. Whether they’re ignorant and don’t believe bipolar is a real affliction or they just can’t comprehend it, there will always be naysayers or those who can’t sympathize. Here’s a roundup of questions and statements we with bipolar hate being asked or told.
DetailsThere is no cure for alcoholism. Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic. It’s a chronic disease. But it can be confusing to some why us alcoholics always refer to ourselves as recovering even if we’ve been sober a long time. We alcoholics have dark pasts. Some of us have attempted suicide. Stolen. Ostracized people. Acted out sexually. Even exhibited violent behaviors. These acts can never be undone. So an addict or alcoholic is constantly in need of setting things straight.
DetailsBrian Wilson is the mastermind behind the Beach Boys and he is a bipolar genius. Love & Mercy — a new biopic — explores his life and legacy. And while I have to say it’s an enjoyable movie, the film looks at his life through rose-colored glasses. Wilson’s true diagnosis of bipolar disorder isn’t even touched upon in the film.
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