Hi Reader, Laura Riordan knows that feeling "too happy" can be dangerous. Most people don't have to worry about feeling too happy, but, when you live with Bipolar 1, that euphoric feeling can be a very real and very nefarious signal that you are slipping into mania. Once that slide happens, it is very difficult to course-correct and you may be flying high on a terrifying ride heading towards the inevitable crash of severe depression. This is what it is to live with the bipolar beast, as Laura...

Hi Reader, I felt my breath be taken by this line in Julia Tannenbaum's newest essay on Recovery Diaries, "As the people around me fought to save my life, I fought to stay sick." When I talk about the vulnerability and insight our writers bring forward when they write about their issues with mental illness, this is what I'm talking about. I think it's very hard for people who don't understand mental illness to get their heads around the idea of someone fighting to stay sick, and this is part...

Hi Reader, At the advice of a friend, I reached out months ago to dog whisperer/trainer Casey Buckley to learn about the world of service therapy dogs and found out that, yes, there indeed is a world that I needed to be educated about. I learned that service dogs are indeed amazing, trained to alert and assist with so many aspects of life—medical emergencies, balance and mobility, and psychiatric service work. To show the dog’s remarkable impact on the quality of life of a human, Casey and I...