Beyond the Bipolar Label: Self-Stigma and Identity

Getting a diagnosis can feel like it explains everything about you, and somehow erases you at the same time, can’t it? That’s the reality for so many people living with bipolar, so I sat down with someone who has spent almost 30 years figuring out how to hold onto herself despite it.

Talking Self-Stigma and Bipolar with Dr Andrea Vasilev

Dr Andrea Vasilev is a psychotherapist, academic and award-winning advocate, and the author of the workbook Beyond the Bipolar Label. She has lived with bipolar for almost 30 years herself, and that experience shapes everything about how she works with her clients. She joins me in this episode to talk about the real signs of bipolar disorder, how self-stigma and bipolar tend to feed each other, and what it takes to build an identity that holds more than the label.

Here’s a taste of what she shared with me:

• The real signs of bipolar disorder, and why the pattern matters more than how high or low the mood gets
• Why bipolar disorder gets misdiagnosed as depression so easily
• How self-stigma and bipolar can quietly build on each other, and the two ways that happens
• Why you are so much more than a diagnosis, whatever age you were given it
• Who is safe to tell, and how to decide what to share and when
• How bipolar can affect relationships, family and work
• The biggest myths about bipolar, and why they need to go
• Her message for anyone who has just been diagnosed

Andrea doesn’t hold back about what living with bipolar has cost her, years lost to being too unwell to work, and the treatment she went through to get stable. That honesty is what makes this conversation so useful. Her workbook grew out of a group programme she created for self-stigma and bipolar as part of her doctorate, one that hospitals now run and researchers have studied, so every tool in it comes from real evidence, not guesswork.

If you live with bipolar, love someone who does, or work with people who do, this conversation about self-stigma and bipolar will give you something to hold onto.

Timestamps

• 0:00 – Welcome to Don’t Get a Therapist Yet
• 0:12 – Meet Dr Andrea Vasilev, author of Beyond the Bipolar Label
• 0:56 – Andrea’s story and 30 years of living with bipolar
• 2:15 – How Beyond the Bipolar Label came to life
• 4:56 – Signs and symptoms of bipolar disorder
• 6:11 – Why most bipolar episodes are depressive, not manic
• 6:45 – Why bipolar disorder gets misdiagnosed as depression
• 8:07 – Bipolar and identity: you are more than a diagnosis
• 11:06 – How self-stigma and shame take hold
• 14:48 – Can you live a happy life with bipolar?
• 17:02 – Who is safe to tell you have bipolar
• 18:17 – The Disclosure Decision Cheat Sheet
• 20:35 – How bipolar affects relationships and family
• 22:48 – The years Andrea lost to being unwell
• 25:43 – Bipolar and work: the real employment statistics
• 27:11 – Meaningful ways to contribute when you can’t work
• 29:54 – Busting the biggest myths about bipolar
• 34:51 – Andrea’s message for anyone newly diagnosed
• 36:36 – Where to find Beyond the Bipolar Label and Andrea

Meet Dr Andrea Vasilev

Andrea is a psychotherapist based in California, an academic and an award-winning advocate for people living with bipolar. She was diagnosed herself at 14, and has lived with bipolar for almost 30 years. Her doctoral research led her to create a group programme for self-stigma and bipolar, which is now run at some of the top hospitals in the country and is being translated into Japanese for further study. She worked with publisher New Harbinger to turn that programme into a self-help workbook anyone could use on their own, Beyond the Bipolar Label.

Website: andreavisilev.com

Instagram: @best.life.bipolar

Beyond the Bipolar Label- https://www.newharbinger.com/9781648486685/beyond-the-bipolar-label/

For more episodes on Mental Health conditions visit my Podcast page

This episode is for general information and conversation, not professional advice. It’s not a replacement for therapy, medical care or any kind of individual treatment. If you’re going through a crisis or struggling with your mental health, please reach out to a qualified professional or a trusted support service in your area. If you’re in immediate danger or need urgent help, contact your local emergency services.