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This week, I have an interview with the wonderful Bipolar Barbie. She is a mental health advocate from Australia. In this interview, she describes her experiences with bipolar and talks about why she is passionate about being a mental health advocate. We cover topics from her first manic episode during law school to the importance of medication in her journey. I think you’ll really enjoy this one.

Book Winner!

Congrats to Twitter user @kellydutrisac for winning this week’s free book! If you’d like to win a print copy of one of my books for free, all you need to do is share your favorite quote from this episode on any social media platform and tag me. I pick one random winner each week!

This was a nice conversation with Bipolar Barbie. She was open, honest, and inspiring. Here are some of the topics we discuss:

• What it’s like to be too symptomatic to work, but “not sick enough” to qualify for public services.
• Her first manic episode during law school, which was characterized by not sleeping for weeks, exercising so hard that she could hardly walk, and suicidality.
• The dangerous combination of trauma, grief, and mania.
• How a 9-5 job may not be realistic for her, and why that’s okay.
• The importance of medication in her mental health journey.
• What “recovery” looks like to her.
• In her opinion, the best advice for someone looking to help someone with mental illness is to, “Shut the fuck up and listen.”

Please check out Bipolar Barbie at her website or on social media!

Thanks for listening!

Interested in having me answer a question on the podcast? Email me at robert@duffthepsych.com and maybe you’ll hear it on a future episode!

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