Bipolar She with Janine Noel

TEXT US: Have a Story? Feedback for the Show?

You don’t have to be a good poet to write something authentic.

Therapist and author Margaret Bryden explains why poetry can cut through the facts, explanations, and self-editing that often keep us at a safe distance from our feelings. A poem asks us to condense an experience, use metaphor, and pay attention to what is happening inside rather than recount every detail of what happene...

TEXT US: Have a Story? Feedback for the Show?

WRITING HARD STORIES CLASS BEGINS SEPTEMBER 13

ENROLL HERE (Early Bird Discount through Aug. 1)

During my MFA program in creative writing, my life changed. I felt comfortable writing about crisis times and less secretive about having bipolar illness. Just writing the bare bones of what happened felt like a relief. Today, there's so much evolving research on how your brain changes (for the ...

TEXT US: Have a Story? Feedback for the Show?

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 curre...

TEXT US: Have a Story? Feedback for the Show?

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 ma...

TEXT US: Have a Story? Feedback for the Show?

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...

TEXT US: Have a Story? Feedback for the Show?

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 f...

TEXT US: Have a Story? Feedback for the Show?

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&rsqu...

TEXT US: Have a Story? Feedback for the Show?

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 ...

TEXT US: Have a Story? Feedback for the Show?

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 ...

TEXT US: Have a Story? Feedback for the Show?

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 a...

TEXT US: Have a Story? Feedback for the Show?

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...

TEXT US: Have a Story? Feedback for the Show?

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 i...

TEXT US: Have a Story? Feedback for the Show?

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 di...

TEXT US: Have a Story? Feedback for the Show?

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 fluctuate...

TEXT US: Have a Story? Feedback for the Show?

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 ...

TEXT US: Have a Story? Feedback for the Show?

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,...

TEXT US: Have a Story? Feedback for the Show?

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 spiritu...

TEXT US: Have a Story? Feedback for the Show?

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/autis...

TEXT US: Have a Story? Feedback for the Show?

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 ...