My name is Josie, and I live with bipolar disorder.
My journey with mental illness has taken me through some of the hardest periods of my life. I have experienced severe bipolar depression, hospitalizations, medication changes, and treatments including ECT. There were times when simply getting through an ordinary day felt like an enormous accomplishment.
Recovery hasn’t been a straight line. Finding the right treatment has taken persistence, and even when things began improving, I discovered that getting better brought its own challenges. I had spent so long surviving that I had to learn how to live again.
Slowly, I began finding pieces of myself that I thought I had lost. I started participating more in my life, reconnecting with the people I love, and believing that there could still be meaningful days ahead of me.
Writing became an important part of that process.
Eventually, I decided to tell my story in a book called Living with Bipolar – Finding Josie. Writing it allowed me to look honestly at what I had been through—the illness, treatment, relationships, losses, struggles and recovery—and recognize how hard I had fought to still be here.
I published the book because I wanted other people living with bipolar disorder to know they aren’t alone. Mental illness can change a life dramatically, but a diagnosis doesn’t erase the person underneath it.
I’m still finding Josie. I’m still learning, recovering and figuring out what life looks like now. There are good days and difficult ones, and I don’t pretend recovery is perfect.
But I’m here.
And after everything I’ve been through, I’ve learned that sometimes recovery isn’t about becoming the person you were before.
Sometimes it’s about discovering who you can become next.
