Bipolar She with Janine Noel
I kept my mental illness secret, then one day I pressed record. On Bipolar She we explore questions like: What does a mental health crisis feel like? How do you survive it? What could improve your health? My guests have lived life experience and tell difficult mental health stories in raw detail. What inspired this podcast? I heard an interview on the radio with a comedian who spoke vividly about her bipolar illness and her symptoms. Her symptoms matched up with mine. Everything changed. I was able to open up to my therapist and get better care. So, join me in welcoming storytellers (real people & experts) from various backgrounds to boldly share a part of their lives with the goal of better mental health for all. Please check out BipolarShe.com and let me know if you have a story. The content of this podcast does not include medical or professional advice. Do not disregard or delay seeking medical advice in response to this podcast. We are real people talking mental health. Welcome to Bipolar She.
Episodes
58 episodes
Journaling Through Mental Illness: What Harms and What Heals (Remix)
Check Out BipolarShe.com to Register For Janine's Writing class. Starts September 13.Enjoy this Summer Remix of Kathleen Adams' Episode "Journaling for Your Bipolar Brain."Can jour...
Can Writing Bad Poems Build Resilience? The Healing Power of Poetry Without Rules
You don’t have to be a good poet to write something authentic.Therapist and author Margaret Bryden explains why poetry can cut through the facts, explanations, and self-editing that often keep us at a safe distance from our feelings. A p...
Can Writing About Hard Times Feel Good? Get Started on Your Story
WRITING HARD STORIES CLASS BEGINS SEPTEMBER 13ENROLL HERE (Early Bird Discount through Aug. 1)During my MFA program in creative writing, my life changed. I felt comfortable wr...
Women on Lamictal (Lamotrigine) Warning: What Your Doctors May Not Know
This June, I went to Kauai hoping my brain would finally get a break. Instead, I woke up and could barely walk straight. My balance was gone. The room seemed to move under me. I fell, got hurt, and had moments where my spatial awareness felt so...
Bipolar and Pregnant: How Betsi Fought to be a Mom
In this episode of Bipolar She, Janine talks with Betsi Werling about becoming a mom with bipolar I disorder. The general thinking fifteen years ago, was that pregnancy was too risky for women with mood disorders. Although Betsi and he...
4 TV/Films That Get Mental Illness Right On Screen
Today on Bipolar She, Janine looks at how mental illness shows up on screen from the neurotic, quirky TV musical Crazy Ex-Girlfriend to the critically acclaimed Silver Linings Playbook with Bradly Cooper’s pitch perfect bipolar pe...
What Happened to You? The Neurosequential Model with Diane Vines
What Happened to You? The Neurosequential Model With Diane VinesIn this powerful conversation, Janine sits down with Diane Vines, a seasoned clinician and Neurosequential Model practitioner whose work bridges trauma, brain develop...
4 Great Books on Mental Illness to Inspire You to Tell Your Story
Janine shares how writing about her own mental health crises in an MFA program helped her see that illness can be written, shared, and received (mostly) without shame. She currently teaches classes on writing the hard stuff—but to do so, you’ve...
Destabilized by a Med Change | How Lowering Lithium Derailed My Life
In this solo episode of Bipolar She, I talk about how a lithium dose reduction triggered a bipolar crisis and led to brain fog, confusion, sleep disruption, exhaustion, and intrusive suicidal thoughts--thoughts about...
Silence Imposter Syndrome and Beat Burnout with Rachel Wexler
In honor of International Women’s Day, I’m joined by executive coach Rachel Wexler for a real conversation about what happens when you look “fine” on the outside—but inside you’re pushing, overthinking, and quietly unraveling. Rachel sha...
Will Spring Make Me Manic? How Sunshine Can Be Dangerous For Your Mood
Spring doesn’t just bring longer days—it often puts people with bipolar disorder at higher risk for manic symptoms and hospitalizations. Changes in sunlight at the edges of the day, circadian rhythm shifts, increased dopamine, and a faster soci...
Feminine Rage and How to Work With It. Class With Amy Vincze Begins Feb. 24th
Today I sit down with EFT practitioner and creator of the Soar With Tapping app, Amy Vincze. When I heard Amy is leading a class: The Wisdom of Feminine Rage beginning February 24 (
Why Grief Is Like A Chameleon and How to Live With It — Dr. Lisa Benton-Hardy
Grief doesn’t follow a script, and it certainly doesn’t end on a schedule. Psychiatrist Dr. Lisa Benton-Hardy joins us to unpack loss—why you may be met with a flood of feeling years later, how relief and laughter can coexist with tears, and wh...
Lithium—Why I Shake (My Secret Life #2)
I’ve been on lithium for 16 years. For the past two years my hands quiver and my body noticeably shakes. My tremor was subtle at first, but now it can be impossible to hide. This episode is about how a drug that is helping my mood stay stable a...
Is ADHD a Disorder? Tracy Otsuka Challenges Old Labels (Part 2)
In Part 2, Tracy Otsuka digs into ADHD with candor and science, pulling apart the “disorder” narrative and replacing it with a focus on strengths, interests and purpose. We also walk the tightrope between ADHD and bipolar dis...
Why ADHD in Women is Not a Productivity Problem with Tracy Otsuka, Author of ADHD for Smart Ass Women (Part 1)
What if your productivity no longer defines you? That question anchors a candid conversation with Tracy Otsuka—host of the ADHD for Smart Ass Women podcast and author of the best-selling book ADHD for Smart Ass Women: How to Fall in Love wi...
Anti-Anxiety Holiday Gift Guide with Crystal Flores
Do you find yourself stressed and anxious when it comes to giving holiday gifts? Have you lost the joy of the experience?We sit down with financial wellness expert Crystal Flores to learn ways to stop the anxiety and disconnection of gif...
My Secret Life #1 Going Crazy for Sleep
Join me for a behind the scenes look at my private bedtime medication routine, in which I fight through intrusive thoughts and fears before falling asleep. For me it's a battle with Seroquel and the strange paradox where it stirs up my mind bef...
Break Free From "Hustle Culture" & Improve Your Mental Health With Dr. Portia Preston
What if you stopped measuring your worth by output and started honoring your reality? Today I sit down with Dr. Portia Preston, public health scholar and professor on the front lines of inclusive wellness, and the author of
How Strong Mental Health Improves Your Wealth with Crystal Flores
Today I sit down with Crystal Flores to trace the line from her father's suicide to her early marriage that led to depression and codependency. Crystal broke free from her picture-perfect, yet miserable marriage, to carve out a new life built o...
Borderline Personality Disorder: Stigma, Shame & Secrets
For Bianca, the catalyst of her Borderline Personality Disorder was the cultural pressure of living in a Middle Eastern family that provided the basics in life, but no emotional connection or support. With eldest-daughter expectations, and the ...
Recovery Warfare with General Gregg F. Martin [Part 2]
Picking up from Part 1, Gregg is now stuck in what he calls “two years of bipolar hell.” But when he is finally prescribed lithium, within a week his depression lifts. Coming out of depression, he still had work to do—repairing familial and pro...
Iraq War Triggers Bipolar with General Gregg F. Martin [Part 1]
Major General Gregg F. Martin had, for the most part of his life, lived with hyperthymia, a continuous low-level mania that ultimately helped his military performance because he was energetic, creative, and driven. But after commanding a 10,000...
[Replay] Dartmouth Delusions
The first time I lost my mind was at Dartmouth College. By my junior year I was walking through campus with psychosis. A movie camera followed me wherever I went. I imagined myself dying in beautiful and surreal ways. And ultimately I wanted my...
My Doctor Violated Me [Replay/New End]
In the original episode "Raw My Doctor Violated Me," Madelynn revealed how her psychiatrist of three years gradually started to make sexual advances. Her marriage was falling apart and she was vulnerable. How could this doctor who had provided ...