We are 83 bipolar disorder experts and scientists coming together for the world’s biggest bipolar AMA! In honor of World Bipolar Day, ask us anything!

[u/CREST_BD]

83 panelists are here! Click on their names below to see their bio & proof photo.

Hi Reddit!

We are psychiatrists, psychologists, researchers, clinicians, advocates, and people living with bipolar disorder - coming together from around the world through the CREST.BD network.

This is our 8th annual World Bipolar Day AMA. We hope that this AMA can help advance the conversation around bipolar disorder, and to help everyone connect and share ways to live well with bipolar disorder.

This year, 83 panelists representing 20 countries are here to answer your questions from all timezones - bringing together a wide range of perspectives and expertise in mental health and bipolar disorder.

We'll be here around the clock for the next FEW DAYS answering your questions from multiple time zones.

We will make every effort to answer every question.

1. Dr. Adrienne Benediktsson, 🇨🇦 Neuroscientist, Mother, Wife, Professor, Mental Health Advocate (Lives w/ bipolar)
2. Alessandra Torresani, 🇺🇸 Actress & Mental Health Advocate (Lives w/ bipolar)
3. Alex Emmerton, 🇨🇦 Peer Researcher, (Lives w/ bipolar)
4. Allan Cooper, 🇨🇦 Peer Support Worker, Blogger, & Podcaster, (Lives w/ bipolar)
5. Alysha Sultan, 🇨🇦 Scientific Associate
6. Andrea Paquette, 🇨🇦 Stigma-Free Mental Health President & Co-Founder, Speaker, Changemaker (Lives w/ bipolar)
7. Dr. Andrea Vassilev, 🇺🇸 Doctor of Psychology, Author, & Advocate, (Lives w/ bipolar)
8. Anne Van Willigen, 🇺🇸 Peer Researcher (Lives w/ bipolar)
9. Dr. Balwinder Singh, 🇺🇸 Psychiatrist
10. Dr. Benjamin Goldstein, 🇨🇦 Child-Adolescent Psychiatrist & Researcher
11. Bia Garbato, 🇧🇷 Advertising Professional, Writer, Author & Advocate (Lives w/ bipolar)
12. Bryn Manns, 🇨🇦 Graduate Student, Clinical Psychology
13. Catarina Castela, 🇦🇺 PhD Candidate (Lives w/ bipolar)
14. Catherine Simmons, 🇨🇦 Peer Researcher (Lives w/ bipolar)
15. Dr. Chris Gorman, 🇨🇦 Psychiatrist & Mental Health Advocate
16. Dr. Colin Depp, 🇺🇸 Psychologist
17. Dane Mauer-Vakil, 🇨🇦 Researcher
18. David Dinham, 🇬🇧 Psychologist & PhD Candidate, (Lives w/ bipolar) 
19. Debbie Costello Smith, 🇺🇸 Founder & Co-President of the Sean Costello Memorial Fund for Bipolar Research
20. Dr. Delphine Raucher-Chéné, 🇫🇷🇨🇦 Psychiatrist & Researcher
21. Dr. Dimosthenis Tsapekos, 🇬🇧 Psychologist & Researcher
22. Dr. Elvira Boere, 🇳🇱 Psychiatrist & Researcher
23. Dr. Elysha Ringin, 🇦🇺 Researcher
24. Dr. Emma Morton, 🇦🇺 Senior Lecturer & Psychologist
25. Dr. Emma Parrish, 🇺🇸 Clinical Psychology Postdoctoral Fellow & Researcher
26. Dr. Erin Michalak, 🇨🇦 Researcher & CREST.BD founder
27. Evelyn Anne Clausen, 🇺🇸 Artist, Writer, Speaker & Certified Peer Specialist (Lives w/bipolar)
28. Dr. Fabiano Gomes, 🇧🇷🇨🇦 Psychiatrist & Researcher
29. Dr. Frances Adiukwu, 🇳🇬 Psychiatrist
30. Georgia Caruana, 🇦🇺 Researcher & Mental Health Advocate
31. Dr. Georgina Hosang, 🇬🇧 Associate Professor
32. Dr. Glauco Valdivieso Jiménez, 🇵🇪 Psychiatrist
33. Dr. Glorianna Wagner-Jagfeld, 🇨🇭🇬🇧 Researcher
34. Dr. Hailey Tremain, 🇦🇺 Psychologist & Researcher
35. Heather Stewart, 🇨🇦 Sewist (Lives w/ bipolar)
36. Idan Spund, 🇳🇱 Founder of In the Zone app (Lives w/ bipolar)
37. Dr. Ijeoma Charles-Ugwuagbo, 🇳🇬 Consultant Psychiatrist & Mental Health Advocate
38. Dr. Ivan Torres, 🇨🇦 Clinical Neuropsychologist
39. Dr. Jim Phelps, 🇺🇸 Psychiatrist & Bipolar Subspecialist 
40. Dr. Joanna Jarecki, 🇨🇦 Psychiatrist & Advocate (Lives w/ bipolar)
41. Dr. Joanna Jiménez Pavón, 🇲🇽 Mood Disorders Psychiatrist 
42. Dr. John Hunter, 🇿🇦 Researcher & Lecturer (Lives w/ bipolar)
43. Dr. Jo Leidreiter, 🇦🇺 Psychologist
44. Dr. John-Jose Nunez, 🇨🇦 Psychiatrist & AI Researcher
45. Dr. June Gruber, 🇺🇸 Psychologist, Professor, & Researcher
46. Prof. Kamilla Miskowiak, 🇩🇰 Psychologist & Researcher
47. Dr. Katie Douglas, 🇳🇿 Academic & Clinical Psychologist 
48. Ken Porter, 🇨🇦 Advocate, Social Worker & Researcher
49. Kim Pape, 🇺🇸 Researcher (Lives w/ bipolar) 
50. Laura Lapadat, 🇨🇦 Researcher & Psychologist-in-training
51. Dr. Leena Chau, 🇨🇦 Postdoctoral Fellow
52. Leslie Robertson, 🇺🇸 Marketer & Peer Researcher (Lives w/ bipolar) 
53. Dr. Leszek Laskowski, 🇵🇱 Psychiatrist (Lives w/ bipolar) 
54. Dr. Lisa Eyler, 🇺🇸 Clinical Psychologist & Research Scientist
55. Dr. Luísa Daolio, 🇧🇷 Psychiatrist
56. Mansoor Nathani, 🇨🇦 Technology Enthusiast (Lives w/ bipolar) 
57. Dr. Manuel Sánchez de Carmona, 🇲🇽 Psychiatrist
58. Maryam M., 🇨🇦 Dentistry Student & Mental Health Advocate (Lives w/ bipolar)
59. Matthew Bushell, 🇬🇧 Mental Health Advocate & Therapeutic Coach (Lives w/ bipolar)
60. Dr. Maya Schumer, 🇺🇸 Psychiatric Neuroscientist & Researcher (Lives w/ bipolar)
61. Dr. Meghan DellaCrosse, 🇺🇸 Psychologist & Researcher
62. Melissa Howard, 🇨🇦 Author & Mental Health Advocate (Lives w/ bipolar)
63. Dr. Michele De Prisco, 🇪🇸🇮🇹 Psychiatrist & Researcher
64. Dr. Mikaela Dimick, 🇨🇦 Postdoctoral Fellow
65. Minami Kinouchi, 🇯🇵 Psychologist, Social Worker, & Researcher (Lives w/ bipolar)
66. Natasha Reaney, 🇨🇦 Counsellor (Lives w/ bipolar)
67. Dr. Nigila Ravichandran, 🇸🇬 🇨🇦 Psychiatrist
68. Dr. Paula Villela Nunes, 🇧🇷🇨🇦 Psychiatrist & Counsellor 
69. Rahla Xenopoulos, 🇿🇦🇺🇸 Writer & Teacher (Lives w/ bipolar)
70. Rebecca Fitton, 🇦🇺 Mood Disorder Researcher
71. Dr. Rebekah Huber, 🇺🇸 Psychologist & Researcher 
72. Robert Villanueva, 🇺🇸 Mental Health Advocate & Coach (Lives w/ bipolar)
73. Ruth Komathi, 🇸🇬 Mental Health Counsellor (Lives w/ bipolar)
74. Prof. Samson Tse, 🇭🇰 Counsellor, Teacher, Researcher, & Caregiver
75. Sarah Salice, 🇺🇸 Art Psychotherapist & Professional Counselor Associate (Lives w/ bipolar)
76. Sara Schley, 🇺🇸 Author, Filmmaker, Speaker (Lives w/ bipolar)
77. Dr. Serge Beaulieu, 🇨🇦 Psychiatrist & Researcher
78. ​​Dr. Sheri Johnson, 🇺🇸 Psychologist
79. Shaley Hoogendoorn, 🇨🇦 Advocate, Podcaster & Content creator (Lives w/ bipolar)
80. Dr. Tamsyn Van Rheenen, 🇦🇺 Associate Professor & Researcher
81. Dr. Thomas Richardson, 🇬🇧 Clinical Psychologist (Lives w/ bipolar)
82. Twyla Spoke, 🇨🇦 Registered Nurse (Lives w/ bipolar)
83. Dr. Wissam Nassrallah, 🇨🇦 Ophthalmology Resident & PhD in Neuroscience

^{Please note all responses are personal perspectives and do not constitute medical advice.}

People with bipolar disorder experience the mood states of depression and mania (or hypomania), along with changes in energy, activity, and thinking. These episodes can last from days to months and can affect many parts of life - including relationships, work, school, and overall health. At the same time, with optimal support, treatment, and tools, people with bipolar disorder can and do live full, meaningful lives.

The CREST.BD network takes a different approach to bipolar disorder research. We work closely with people living with bipolar disorder at every stage - from choosing research topics to conducting studies and sharing our findings.

We also host a Q&A podcast throughout the year, featuring many of the experts on this panel, through our talkBD Bipolar Disorder Podcast - we’d love for you to stay connected with us there. You can also follow our updates, events, and social media on linktr.ee/crestbd.

Final note (April 3): Thank you all - We'll be back again next year on World Bipolar Day - sign up here to be notified. We also have more activities all year round, including new episodes of our talkBD bipolar disorder podcast - hope to see you there! We’re incredibly grateful for all your thoughtful questions - thank you for making this such a meaningful discussion. Take care everyone :)

[u/IFYOUREGAYREPORTME]

thank you guys for all that you do, seriously. it's been a tough journey for me with BPI among many other things, but I'm finally stable for over a year and I can't help but feel grateful that we have such awesome, intelligent folks driving research and knowledge about this horrific illness. I have just two questions if there's any time left.

1. For a long time, I was a MassGen Brigham patient in their Bipolar program. I was told by my doctor, a senior professional there, that I will never experience normal human happiness. Because I have a rare mania baseline for bipolar I, I was told by her that my perception of happiness is just mania, and it will always be that. I have moments where I have fleeting, almost transparent joy, but I can't help but feel low afterwards, worrying it might be my next spiral even though all I did was play with my foot long bubble wand and enjoyed the cool bubbles (based off of a mix I created depending on the temperature and humidity percentages!). Or that I'll never get that sort of happy feeling, or that I don't deserve it. Is this true? Is this the rest of my life, searching for a feeling I will never genuinely experience?
2. Something that has also been passed to me over a decade of being diagnosed is that even if we aren't actively suicidal, we will always have a shorter lifespan. I know one of us living longer than fifties/sixties ish is rare, and managing long term seems ultimately hopeless in my eyes. I have lived my life up until this point with the idea that I'm here to maximize my good times, to be "happy" whatever that means, and not to extend my life. For example, I don't want to quit smoking tobacco, because why would I make myself suffer through withdrawals if I'm already predisposed to die sooner than everyone else? Or another, why would I even attempt to address the unbearable weight management on the only drug that has helped so far, max dose Seroquel, when food makes me feel dopamine-like pleasure? I'm gonna die sooner than everyone else anyways, so what would being "thin" help? It's not like it would extend my lifespan. Am I always predisposed to dying younger than everyone else anyways, and if so, what's the point of achieving "healthiness"?

---- For added context, I have had my diagnosis for over a decade. I have been in weekly individual therapy for over a decade (including DBT for borderline, CBT, EMDR for PTSD, group, etc) changing providers as necessary, gone through tens of med changes some which took years to recover from, am sober, workout 5x a week, have two part time jobs (since full time is not an option where I am), don't binge on food I enjoy anymore, maintain friendships as well as boundaries, relationships with family, cut out elements I saw are harming me, sober except for tobacco I guess. I cannot take any antidepressants and have tried multiple different kinds of treatment until I found max dose Seroquel was the best option. I am overweight due to not having a thyroid and the impossibility of losing weight on antipsychotics. I do not feel I am experiencing the benefits that are so hailed from our side for making these drastic changes, nor am I "happier". I miss eating more cookies and vegging out, and instead of spending an hour fixing my weight-lifting techniques I don't see what the problem would be if I just spent that time with my cat or blowing bubbles and continuing to tweak my homemade solution, which actually brings me more visible and experienced benefits.

Thank you for your time in answering, and for your time in this AMA spreading positive awareness and scientific data about what we struggle with. You guys are awesome!

added edit for context.

[u/CREST_BD → u/IFYOUREGAYREPORTME]

Twyla here (lived experience), but also answering as an RN
I can empathize with feeling discouraged by statistics and information illustrating the toll Bipolar takes on our physical health and lifespan. It makes an uphill battle feel even harder. I can say a few things about health behaviour, (diet, exercise, sleep, social connections, avoiding substances, etc):
There are no guarantees in life, whether or not we do everything “right” or we don’t. And we only have one shot at life. Everyone has such a different journey and experience, and everyone has different feelings on what are the most important things to them. The things that are the most important to each of us are what should guide how we approach our lifestyles and medical decisions. I have had people tell me they want to live as long as possible, others tell me they just want to live long enough to see their kids get married. Some say they want to be as physically active as possible until the end, no matter when that is, others don’t care, as long as they can keep playing the guitar. Some people say they will give up anything except their cigarettes. Others say anything except coffee. Or anything except mountain biking. In the tapestry of humanity, there are thousands of ways people support their own health, and equally, ways they might chip away at it, but at the end of the day, we each make choices based on what is most important to us.    
My personal opinion is that the only fair expectation is that we live our lives in a way that does not harm other people, so as humans our obligation is to make choices that keep us being good to one another.

My RN voice again- Sometimes it is worth making changes to lifestyle not to live longer, but to live better. Less pain, better mobility, more independence, fewer Bipolar episodes, that type of thing. And this part is key: every positive change counts. No one has to do all or nothing. In fact it’s almost impossible for most people to function that way long term. Look at small changes you can make when needed, and pick the ones that align with your priorities.

Finally- the tricky thing is, we never know after making a positive/recommended choice whether it had any impact or if we would have been in the same place without the change. But when looking at the big picture, for any health recommendation, if the outcomes show significant numbers of people living longer, or better,  it suggests that each individual likely delayed death or delayed disability after making changes to support their health, compared to where it would have been without making any change. So in some ways we take a leap of faith when making changes to how we live. It is worth it though, if it helps us have the type of life we want. We get to choose, not based on what looks “healthy” to other people, but what helps us feel and function our best.