147: Bipolar Señorita Dailyn Santana

Dailyn Santana is a first-generation Cuban-American actress, keynote speaker, spoken word poet, and mental health advocate. Her work focuses on eradicating mental health stigma and her personal experience of living with bipolar 1 disorder, depression, and anxiety. Her mission is to be an example that those living with mental illness CAN live a happy, fulfilling life. She believes that living in your truth is the most powerful tool you can have, and performs her spoken word poetry at events and schools/universities across the country. Her work has been featured on or at The Dr. Oz Show, ALL DEF Poetry, Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Swaay Magazine, I and I Outfitters, We All Grow Latina, and Spiritú, and she has collaborated with Mitú, the BeVocal SpeakUp for Mental Health initiative, BeRemarkable Foundation, The Womens Empowerment Network, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and the National Alliance for Mental Illness.

Tune in as Dailyn shares:

• when she first experienced mania and psychosis — but that she lived without diagnosis for at least a decade
• how she was haunted by stigma and shame from the early days of her diagnosis
• how her diagnosis affected her relationship to her creative outlet: poetry
• the role her cultural background played in her relationship to her diagnosis and care
• why she came out of her “bipolar closet”
• how she interviews potential practitioners, and her tips for others looking for a new therapist
• why her diagnosis doesn’t define her
• how she became a mental health advocate
• what a “warm line” is, and how helpful it can be (see the links in show notes for some directories!)
• why asking for help is a sign of strength

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