Bipolar She with Janine Noel

This June, I went to Kauai hoping my brain would finally get a break. Instead, I woke up and could barely walk straight. My balance was gone. The room seemed to move under me. I fell, got hurt, and had moments where my spatial awareness felt so off that it scared me. This episode is about the interaction between estrogen and Lamictal, also known as lamotrigine. Over 2 million people currently take...

In this episode of Bipolar She , Janine talks with Betsi Werling about becoming a mom with bipolar I disorder. The general thinking fifteen years ago, was that pregnancy was too risky for women with mood disorders. Although Betsi and her husband decided they would not have children, a surprise pregnancy turned into quite a harrowing tale. What followed was one challenge after another: a manic epis...

Today on Bipolar She, Janine looks at how mental illness shows up on screen from the neurotic, quirky TV musical Crazy Ex-Girlfriend to the critically acclaimed Silver Linings Playbook with Bradly Cooper’s pitch perfect bipolar performance, to Taylor Tomlinson’s bold comedy special Look at You that dives right into being a bipolar millennial, and the deep psychological trauma revealed by creator R...

What Happened to You? The Neurosequential Model With Diane Vines In this powerful conversation, Janine sits down with Diane Vines, a seasoned clinician and Neurosequential Model practitioner whose work bridges trauma, brain development, family systems, and real-world healing. Diane has worked with childhood abuse victims and subsequent developmental trauma since 1988. Her approach is far from pres...

Janine shares how writing about her own mental health crises in an MFA program helped her see that illness can be written, shared, and received (mostly) without shame. She currently teaches classes on writing the hard stuff—but to do so, you’ve got to start reading some nonfiction. In this episode she highlights four standout memoirs on mental illness. For more on Janine’s upcoming class, visit Bi...

In this solo episode of Bipolar She , I talk about how a lithium dose reduction triggered a bipolar crisis and led to brain fog, confusion, sleep disruption, exhaustion, and intrusive suicidal thoughts-- thoughts about suicide that were clearly not my own--but still deeply disturbing. What began as a small psychiatric medication change turned into nearly a month of instability, pulling me away fro...

In honor of International Women’s Day, I’m joined by executive coach Rachel Wexler for a real conversation about what happens when you look “fine” on the outside—but inside you’re pushing, overthinking, and quietly unraveling. Rachel shares how early pressure to appear successful can create perfectionism and people-pleasing, and how a personal turning point helped her finally get support and shift...

Spring doesn’t just bring longer days—it often puts people with bipolar disorder at higher risk for manic symptoms and hospitalizations. Changes in sunlight at the edges of the day, circadian rhythm shifts, increased dopamine, and a faster social pace--tempts us to sleep less and do more. With earlier wake-ups, I start to see and feel vibrant colors, have chills that arrive with a thought, telling...

Today I sit down with EFT practitioner and creator of the Soar With Tapping app, Amy Vincze. When I heard Amy is leading a class: The Wisdom of Feminine Rage beginning February 24 ( Details Here ), I immediately wanted to have a conversation on rage and how it develops in women and how essential it is to us having better lives. We share childhood memories of when we suppressed our anger for surviv...

Grief doesn’t follow a script, and it certainly doesn’t end on a schedule. Psychiatrist Dr. Lisa Benton-Hardy joins us to unpack loss—why you may be met with a flood of feeling years later, how relief and laughter can coexist with tears, and what it really takes to support someone beyond the first year when the casseroles stop coming and month 13 begins. We dig into the crucial difference between...

I’ve been on lithium for 16 years. For the past two years my hands quiver and my body noticeably shakes. My tremor was subtle at first, but now it can be impossible to hide. This episode is about how a drug that is helping my mood stay stable also makes my body feel out of control. Lithium is now believed to be the best—even the gold standard of medication—for bipolar disorder, and it has been a g...

What if your productivity no longer defines you? That question anchors a candid conversation with Tracy Otsuka—host of the ADHD for Smart Ass Women podcast and author of the best-selling book ADHD for Smart Ass Women: How to Fall in Love with Your Neurodivergent Brain. We talk about how midlife hormones collide with ADHD traits and force us to reshape identity. As estrogen fluctuates through perim...

In Part 2, Tracy Otsuka digs into ADHD with candor and science, pulling apart the “disorder” narrative and replacing it with a focus on strengths, interests and purpose.    We also walk the tightrope between ADHD and bipolar disorder where misdiagnoses often happen in college. Racing thoughts, impulsivity, and sleepless nights can mimic hypomania, but context matters: dorm food, lost structure, no...

Do you find yourself stressed and anxious when it comes to giving holiday gifts? Have you lost the joy of the experience? We sit down with financial wellness expert Crystal Flores to learn ways to stop the anxiety and disconnection of gift giving. Cyrstal explains how she gives gifts based on her values: thrift, creativity, connection, and environmental stewardship. When your values lead, the pres...

Join me for a behind the scenes look at my private bedtime medication routine, in which I fight through intrusive thoughts and fears before falling asleep. For me it's a battle with Seroquel and the strange paradox where it stirs up my mind before putting me to sleep. I talk through what insomnia means for mania risk, why psychosis feels closer in the dark, and how intrusive, even spiritual,...

What if you stopped measuring your worth by output and started honoring your reality? Today I sit down with Dr. Portia Preston, public health scholar and professor on the front lines of inclusive wellness, and the author of Hustle, Flow, or Let It Go —to explore a humane, shame-free approach to mental health and daily life. After a sudden kidney disease diagnosis and late ADHD/autism diagnoses, Po...

Today I sit down with Crystal Flores to trace the line from her father's suicide to her early marriage that led to depression and codependency. Crystal broke free from her picture-perfect, yet miserable marriage, to carve out a new life built on values, clarity, and fiercely practical money care. The reset wasn’t flashy. She moved to a quaint country home, complete with a flock of chickens, a...

For Bianca, the catalyst of her Borderline Personality Disorder was the cultural pressure of living in a Middle Eastern family that provided the basics in life, but no emotional connection or support. With eldest-daughter expectations, and the heavy silence that comes when a family outsources its pain to one child, Bianca became the out-of-control truth bearer in her family system. After her tumul...

Picking up from Part 1, Gregg is now stuck in what he calls “two years of bipolar hell.” But when he is finally prescribed lithium, within a week his depression lifts. Coming out of depression, he still had work to do—repairing familial and professional relationships.  Greg had also been angry with God for abandoning him and forcing him to live in misery. Lithium not only put Gregg’s depression at...

Major General Gregg F. Martin had, for the most part of his life, lived with hyperthymia, a continuous low-level mania that ultimately helped his military performance because he was energetic, creative, and driven. But after commanding a 10,000-soldier combat brigade in Iraq, Gregg’s descent into mania and depression would span a decade. With a late diagnosis at age 58, Gregg challenges our unders...

The first time I lost my mind was at Dartmouth College. By my junior year I was walking through campus with psychosis. A movie camera followed me wherever I went. I imagined myself dying in beautiful and surreal ways. And ultimately I wanted my life to end. In this episode with fellow writer, JD, I share my first experiences with bipolar disorder. When I welcome guests on the show, I want them to...

In the original episode "Raw My Doctor Violated Me," Madelynn revealed how her psychiatrist of three years gradually started to make sexual advances. Her marriage was falling apart and she was vulnerable. How could this doctor who had provided counsel and care become inappropriate? With humor and even wondering if his words and physical contact were some form of cutting edge therapy, her...

When I rescued a dog, I never imagined the impact she would have on my mental health. Sure, her presence and warmth was calming and healing, but my dog Amber taught me a crucial lesson about how to handle my bipolar disorder. Happy to have a rescue dog in my life, things went downhill when a doctor put me on an antidepressant (which is a risky medication move if you have bipolar illness). And for...

What happens when bipolar disorder collides with unexpected pregnancy? For Betsi it was a frightening time knowing a bipolar episode can be triggered by pregnancy and that bipolar illness has a genetic component that may be passed down to your child. And Betsi had already endured several hospitalizations in her early adulthood. She also was under the care of a doctor who misdiagnosed her and took...

What happens when the joyful arrival of a baby triggers an unexpected mental health crisis? When Susan returned home with her newborn, she was in a manic state. Fueled by little sleep with an infant to care for, her behavior became erratic--rushing around the house, even handling her baby carelessly. Her husband David told Susan that it felt like he was suddenly living with two strangers--a wife h...