Topic Tuesday // World Bipolar Day with Bipolar Australia // Tues 29th March, 7:00-8:30PM AEDT

[Delicatessen]

I’ve had a plan only after being hospitalised. But was also seeing my doctor constantly.

[Moodwisehub]

Question 7: Why do we celebrate World Bipolar Day? And, how will you be celebrating this year? @cloudcore 

Thank you for this final question.

World Bipolar Day 2022 is celebrated on Wednesday, March 30th, the birthday of Vincent Van Gogh, who is widely believed to have suffered from bipolar disorder. At Bipolar Australia, we believe that every person who has Bipolar Disorder should know that the condition can be diagnosed, treated, and well managed, as too many Australians with this severe chronic condition never hear that good news.

We believe encouraging people to seek out help, and working to eliminate social stigma, will together bring about our core goal of making recovery possible for every Australian with bipolar disorder. Bipolar Australia aims to use World Bipolar Day to help bring the good news about recovery to people affected by the condition, and to educate the community about bipolar.

Our core initiative is “Blow Bubbles for Bipolar”, a fun and easy activity that can be used to celebrate the occasion with colleagues, friends, and family. We chose bubbles because people with bipolar who become manic are often described as behaving “bubbly”, while watching the bubbles crash back down represents the depressive phase of the condition. The recovery journey that people embark upon when they get help is symbolised by the rainbow that can be seen when a group blows enough bubbles together.

If you would like to host your own event for WBD and need hosting resources or help to publicise your event, please head to our website bipolaraustralia.org.au or email

bubbles@bipolaraustralia.org.au

World Bipolar Day is just one day a year that helps raise awareness, but we also need your help spreading the message that ‘Recovery is Possible’ all year round! Bipolar Australia is a not-for-profit organisation and as such, we rely on your support, donations and voluntary efforts, to keep our services running.  If you would like to find out more about how you can help you can head to
https://www.bipolaraustralia.org.au/support-us/

[SusanaBA]

Question 7: Why do we celebrate World Bipolar Day? And, how will you be celebrating this year? 

The idea of World Bipolar Day was a collaboration and exchange of ideas across the world by the International Bipolar Foundation. They chose the birthday of Vincent Van Gough, who is believed to have bipolar disorder. We then thought that the metaphor of bubbles applies to Bipolar Disorder- you can rise up the top, and then burst into depression. It’s become our signature and a way to have fun while starting a conversation about the condition. 

For example, if you had a group of friends but didn’t know how to raise awareness, blowing bubbles is a great way to open up a short conversation about the nature and trajectory of Bipolar. 

Tomorrow I’ll be teaching and telling my story to aged care workers for Anglicare in South Australia, who want to learn about better treating their bipolar patients. Over in the UK, at 4am on Thursday I’ll be joining the Bipolar UK Virtual Conference 2022, which this year has the focus of Living Well With Bipolar. You can find the link here: https://www.bipolaruk.org/sign-up-for-our-2022-conference 

[Delicatessen]

The biggest ongoing intervention for me has been walking and hiking. Changed my world. Borders on spiritual.

[HungryHippo]

Unfortunately I can't give you much help with holding down a job @Olga 

I had to leave full-time work about 7 years ago as I couldn't mentally function to the degree I had previously. I have had a couple of temp jobs since, but my brain doesn't seem to function properly these days and I found that I struggled physically as well as mentally. I would very quickly feel burnt out.

[grayhorn]

Yes, but don't forget it's others stigma issues that prevent their openness

[cloudcore]

We're wrapping up for the evening now, thank you everyone for this huge discussion!

You can find more from @Moodwisehub and @SusanaBA at Bipolar Australia. Thank you both so much for all the information and support you have provided for our SANE community 💛

Thank you also to @grayhorn @HungryHippo @Jacques @Quilly @Olga @Delicatessen @MDT @greenpea @Dimity for approaching this discussion with curiosity, positivity, and an openness to share your experiences with each other. Your contributions are are so important to this space 😊

We are mindful that there are still some questions unanswered so we invite you to continue to build on the connections and discussion here in this space: https://saneforums.org/t5/Our-stories/Let-s-talk-about-Bipolar/td-p/1023041

Look forward to seeing you again in our next TT!

[Delicatessen]

Thank you to SANE Australia and Bipolar Australia. This forum was much anticipated for me and I loved hearing the different objectives. More would be welcome!

[SusanaBA]

It has been my pleasure to be in touch with you all tonight! I look forward to meeting you again in future. 

Your are more than welcome to visit our website for more information and resources https://www.bipolaraustralia.org.au/

Take care and thank you for being here

[Moodwisehub]

@grayhorn Yes, stigma is a barrier for many people living with a mental illness.