Bipolar disordertypically causes significant shifts in a persons mood, affecting their energy levels and ability to think clearly.
People with mental illnesses like bipolar I may feel shame and stigma about their conditions.
Finding the right approach to therapy takes time and patience.
Sophi Gullbrants
Alvarezs mental health path as a teenager and young adult was rocky.
Not every doctor is for you, and its important to advocate for yourself.
Alvarezs experience inspired her to do advocacy work as a mental health coach and certified peer recovery specialist.
I wish someone would have told me to just be patient with it.
Ienjoy [therapy] nowbecause it helps me.
Managing the condition means learning new skills.
Risley Lesko, now 27, was 19 when he received his bipolar I diagnosis.
The former Division I college football player noticed his quality of sleep had deteriorated.
He also experienced extreme delusions, which culminated in his first manic episode.
Lesko finally accepted his diagnosis after experiencing its depressive aspect.
Being in the right state of mind to really come to terms with it [came] much later.
Managing the disease is like learning a new skill.
It can be helpful to ask about how symptoms might influence your day-to-day life.
But she assumed her symptoms were just a part of her emotional regularity.
She became compulsive about working out, and she says she was high-achieving in a very goal-oriented way.
One of my biggest triggers into a manic episode is lack of sleep, Sparks tells SELF.
Sparks wishes her doctors had been more upfront about the things she might experience within her bipolar diagnosis.
Sparks would have also done her own research to bring up with her doctors.
Finding a treatment plan is not an exact science.
Rikki Lee Travolta, 52, was diagnosed with bipolar I in his mid-20s.
If you dont accept the diagnosis, youre still suffering, Travolta tells SELF.
It took about five years to find a cocktail of medications that worked for me.
Travolta emphasizes the importance of having a solid, trusting relationship with your mental health team.
Emotional support systems are crucial.
Jenny Kessler Klump, 35, felt like something was off for essentially her entire life.
Navigating her diagnosis was challenging because she grew up in a conservative household that stigmatized mental illness.
Stigma doesnt define you.
Matt Poldrugach, 45, was diagnosed with bipolar I three years ago.
When Poldrugach finally sought care again, he was embarrassed about his diagnosis.
Dont be scared of the diagnosisyoure still you, Poldrugach tells SELF.
For him, that includes keeping perspective in difficult moments.
I think of what Ive overcome in life.
Ive become way more self-confident and less codependent.
