Emily Mendez

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Emily Mendez Emily Mendez is a former therapist, WebMD author, and mental health writer living with bipolar disorder.

On this page, you'll find honest stories and research-backed strategies to help you navigate life with bipolar šŸ’™

10/25/2026

I rescued Ollie when he was just a tiny kitten, and I was so stressed about him. He was very sick. The first night, I literally didnā€™t sleep AT ALL.

My mind kept racing:

ā€œWas he going to make it?ā€
ā€œWould he ever be healthy?ā€
ā€œDid I make the right decision?ā€
ā€œWhat if I couldnā€™t afford the care he needed?ā€

I knew losing sleep wasnā€™t good for my mood stability, but I also knew what would likely happen if I took him to a shelter. So I decided to keep him and figure it out.

Slowly things got better. Ollie got stronger. I got some sleep. And eventually, I stopped worrying that he wouldnā€™t make it.

Then he recovered, and turned into an absolute menace. He bit everyone and climbed everything he could find. He treated every person and piece of furniture like a launching pad.

Honestly, there were moments when I wondered if I was in over my head. But, I kept going.

Now heā€™s just over five months old. Heā€™s healthy. Iā€™m convinced that chaos is his full-time job.

Watching Ollie recover reminded me a lot of my own bipolar recovery. Things do get better little by little. šŸ¾ ļæ¼ļæ¼ļæ¼

10/20/2026

When I was experiencing severe bipolar depression, I spent up to 14 hours a day in bed, binge-watching entire seasons of shows on Netflix. I couldnā€™t work. Some days, watching TV was about the only thing I could manage.

The dishes piled up because I couldnā€™t bring myself to wash them. Bills went unpaid because I couldnā€™t deal with opening the mail or responding to notices. I just didnā€™t care.

I remember getting calls and messages about overdue payments. People wanted to know why I hadnā€™t responded to their emails or notices. Everything felt hopeless.

From the outside, I can understand how some of these things might have looked like laziness.

But, this wasnā€™t laziness. I was experiencing severe bipolar depression.
Depression doesnā€™t always look like sadness. Sometimes it affects your ability to manage even the most basic parts of everyday life.

Have you ever had someone mistake your depression for laziness?

10/16/2026

Almost 4 years ago today, I began experiencing increasingly unusual thoughts and behavior. I slept just hours over a span of 3 days. I was taken to the ER and placed on a 72-hour psychiatric hold.

I was given a strong sedative and antipsychotics. The next morning, I woke up in a psychiatric hospital, confused about what had happened and why I was there.

Doctors told me that Iā€™d had a brief psychotic episode. And, they believed it might be related to stress. They were hopeful that it would pass.

Years before this, Iā€™d worked with psychiatric patients. I understood involuntary hospitalization from a clinical perspective. However, experiencing it myself was jarring. I truly didnā€™t believe that I needed to be there. I thought I had been held against my will for no reason. I was pretty angry and threatened legal action against the hospital.

But there was a reason I was there. Unknown to me at the time was that I actually had bipolar disorder. Looking back, I am grateful that I was hospitalized. I realized that it probably saved my life.

10/14/2026

Sometimes I get tired of managing the thing Iā€™m trying so hard to manage.

Anyone else feel the same way?

10/11/2026

I experienced catatonia several times during severe bipolar I episodes. During these periods, I couldnā€™t walk or talk. I could barely move at all. One was bad enough to require hospitalization for almost a week.

I felt a lot of despair during these times. Itā€™s difficult to explain what itā€™s like to lose control over something youā€™ve done your entire life without thinking about it.

I used to take moments like this for granted. Walking through a park, exploring a new place, or simply enjoying a beautiful day means so much more to me now.

Have you ever experienced catatonia? If you are comfortable sharing, Iā€™d love to hear about it.

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