We’ve carefully selected these blogs because they are actively working to educate, inspire, and empower their readers with frequent updates and high quality information. If you would like to tell us about a blog, nominate them by emailing us at bestblogs@healthline.com!
Bipolar disorder is a mental condition defined by drastic emotional highs and lows. It can affect anyone, but typically begins when people are about 25 years old. While there is no cure, talk therapy and behavior modification can be an asset to many. Prescription medication can also help treat secondary conditions like anxiety and depression.
Bipolar disorder can rock your world with high emotional seas and devastatingly low ebbs, whether you have the diagnosis yourself or know someone who does. People with bipolar disorder can have difficulty maintaining personal and professional relationships. That can leave them feeling isolated, which could worsen symptoms. Luckily, a number of experts on the condition, and people who deal with bipolar disorder themselves, have become award-winning bloggers, providing a lifeline through information and supportive communities.
Read these blogs to stretch your support community across the globe — and plot your course to hope and health.
Learn More: 7 Bipolar Disorder Signs to Look For »
Bipolar Beat
An excellent first stop for anyone curious about bipolar disorder, Psych Central’s blog covers personal experiences and provides professional insight. Its authors, Joe Kraynak and Dr. Candida Fink, are also the writers behind “Bipolar Disorder for Dummies.” Kraynak is a freelance writer whose wife has been diagnosed with bipolar, while Dr. Fink is a psychiatrist who treats people with the condition. Their posts reflect the frustrations and hopes of dealing with a condition that few people understand or have compassion for.
Tweet them: @PsychCentral
Bipolar Blogger Network
The Bipolar Blogger Network was founded by two friends who live “with or near” bipolar disorder. They wanted to provide a place for writers who have the condition and for people who love someone with it to share feelings and insights. The result offers up wide-ranging views on the condition with an emphasis on maintaining hope and a sense of humor. The blog is a must-read for learning how it feels to have bipolar disorder. You might find yourself compelled to contribute a voice.
Tweet them: @bipolarbn
Bipolar Happens
Writer Julie A. Fast cuts to the chase. Like most of her readers, she has bipolar disorder, but she’s not letting it get in her way of having a full life. She’s authored several books about managing this condition, as well as depression. On her blog, she writes about how to manage symptoms like restlessness, morning depression, and more, and encourages her readers to manage them and do the things they love.
Tweet her: @JulieBipolar
Bipolar I
Bipolar I is a mix of manic and depressive episodes, while bipolar II is characterized mostly by depression. The writer behind this blog is a molecular biologist with a master’s degree in education who writes about life with a mixed version of the condition. She has found blogging to be therapeutic and seeks to help others with a blend of insights on mental health and her personal experiences. Read on for information, inspiration, and, most decidedly, hope.
Bipolar Mom Life
After being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, Jennifer was hospitalized for postpartum psychosis following the birth of her two children. She’s since launched this blog along with a nonprofit, This Is My Brave, to allow people with mental illness to tell their stories. She shares how journaling and blogging have helped her, dispels myths about bipolar disorder and other mental health conditions, and more.
Tweet her: @BipolarMomLife
Bphope
Harmony, the successful merging and function of unlikely elements, can be illusive for people with bipolar disorder. But harmony and peace are just what the writers behind this blog — the online presence of “BP Magazine” — aim to provide. The community of writers includes people who have bipolar disorder, their family members and friends, and experts on the condition. Topics range from heartfelt musings on whether or not to have children, to how to manage seasonal depression.
Tweet them: @bpHopeMag
Health Central’s Bipolar Blog
Health Central is a vast network of health information sites and blogs. Its bipolar entry is written by John McManamy, an award-winning mental health journalist who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder after what he describes as “years of denial.” McManamy actively engages in discussion with readers, writing with both a journalist’s analytical perspective and the understanding and compassion of a person with bipolar. This is the place to learn about the struggles and triumphs of living with bipolar disorder.
Tweet them: @healthcentral
International Bipolar Foundation’s Blog
The mission of the International Bipolar Foundation is to improve understanding and treatment of bipolar disorder through research, to promote care and support resources for both individuals with bipolar disorder and caregivers, and to end stigma by boosting understanding and education. Their blog is truly global, with posts authored by people from around the world. Read along, and consider adding your voice to a community that seeks to remove the stigmas that surround mental illness.
Tweet them: @IntlBipolar
Life Unlimited
The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance sets out to provide hope and support to millions suffering from mood disorders and those who love them. Their blog spotlights an in-depth, first person story about mental illness once a month. The posts are unfailingly inspiring, even when they detail painful symptoms and difficult crossroads. Read for hope, whether you have a bipolar diagnosis yourself or know someone who does.
Pax Nortona
Joel Sax has a lot going on in his life beyond his bipolar diagnosis, but he still manages to blog about what it’s like living with the condition. Pax Nortona is his collection of experiences and insights. This anthropologist has traveled and lectured all over the globe. His blog notes how to manage bipolar disorder in many situations, such as when you’re seven hours from your regular time zone, you’ve been pickpocketed, and then the food doesn’t agree with you. That’s a lot for anyone, but Sax manages to report it evenly and with a sense of humor.
PeopleMatter
Dave Wise writes about faith and mental illness, an issue he first realized was part of his life following a suicide attempt in 2004. He also writes about grief and recovery in the wake of losing their child, a heartbreak that weighs heavily on his posts. The blog also features guest posts by Wise’s close friend Shirley Davis, who examines living and having faith, with mental illness.
Tweet him: @dmwise
purplepersuasion
Charlotte Walker began writing her blog when she was faced with a re-diagnosis of bipolar disorder in 2011. While she’s clear to readers that this is her space for exploring her feelings and experiences, Walker wants to make sure they feel welcome. She acknowledges that talking about mental illness can be difficult, and that people who have mental illness can sometimes behave frighteningly. Her blog aims to make bipolar disorder more understandable by explaining it in great detail while still providing hope for a better life.
Suddenly Bipolar
Blogger Deborah writes honestly about her bipolar symptoms, including steady thoughts of suicide, hospitalizations, and a rapid cycling of moods. Her stories range from heartbreaking to hopeful, and it is heartening to know that Deborah finds strength in writing them, and that they help the people reading them. Check out the section called “Ways You Can Help Me,” which highlights things to look out for, like sudden changes in behavior, which could indicate a new and dangerous cycle of depression or mania.
You can nominate someone for next year’s list by emailing us at bestblogs@healthline.com.
