Producer’s Note: Please be mindful that this transcript has been computer generated and therefore may contain inaccuracies and grammar errors. Thank you.
Announcer: You’re listening to Inside Bipolar, a Healthline Media Podcast, where we tackle bipolar disorder using real-world examples and the latest research.
Gabe: Welcome everyone. My name is Gabe Howard and I live with bipolar disorder.
Dr. Nicole: And I’m Dr. Nicole Washington, a board-certified psychiatrist.
Gabe: We get emails and I want everybody to continue sending those emails to [email protected]. They inform topics and ideas, etc. and we got a whole bunch of emails from people asking if seasonal bipolar was a thing. And I don’t know. Is there such thing as a seasonal bipolar?
Dr. Nicole: As a seasonal bipolar? [Laughter]
Gabe: Right, right. And I think they they’re comparing it to like seasonal depressive disorder. Right?
Gabe: I think that’s what they mean.
Dr. Nicole: Well, I mean, okay, so let’s let’s backtrack that just a little bit. So even when a person has seasonal depression or, you know, depression with a seasonal pattern, it doesn’t mean they only ever have depression episodes, you know, in the winter or in the fall. It doesn’t mean that. It means that there’s a pattern of that. It means that we can prepare for that. It means that we know historically they’re more likely to have that, but it doesn’t mean that they can’t have episodes throughout other times of the year.
Gabe: I’m going to take a quick leap here and assume that our listeners are familiar with seasonal affective disorder or seasonal depression, and that’s the genesis of this question. They’re wondering if the season can impact their bipolar disorder, like the seasons can impact depression.
Dr. Nicole: And one thing, Gabe, that people might not even realize is that when the DSM five came out, they kind of took seasonal affective disorder out as a separate disorder. And now that specifier is under major depressive disorder with a seasonal pattern. So it’s kind of been even removed as a whole separate thing. And now we’re classifying it not separately, but we’re classifying it as a specifier under major depressive disorder.
Gabe: So even the knowledge that people have on on SAD is now just old. It’s just the internet. Nothing dies on the internet. People are watching videos, listening to podcasts, reading blogs. It’s not even the most up to date information.
Dr. Nicole: It’s not, but, you know, I mean, things change and sometimes we don’t change with it. Listen, there are all kinds of things that I still call their old name. There are there are things in life that we just get stuck on. I literally just learned a week ago that the, the beauty products, the Olay, I just learned that they haven’t been called Oil of Olay in 30 years, and I have been calling it Oil of Olay only for the past 30 years. So there you go. [Laughter]
Gabe: I am today years old, learning that. That’s what my great, great grandma used to use.
Dr. Nicole: Exactly.Exactly.
Gabe: So I’m, I guess a good name change was in order.
Dr. Nicole: I guess, but so, yes. So these things are absolutely. Are absolutely evolving and changing. And so our understanding of major depressive disorder with a seasonal pattern has evolved. And you might be surprised to know that also in the DSM, Gabe, there are specifiers for bipolar disorder with seasonal pattern.
Gabe: So that that’s really cool. So first off to all of our listeners, complete clean slate. Right? I’m glad you’re tuning in because if you live with bipolar disorder, and if you’re wondering if the seasons impact you and you’re comparing it to any of this old information, it’s always good to get updated information. But two, it sounds like the answer is yes. The answer to the question that I posed a couple of minutes ago is yes. Bipolar disorder with seasonal features is a real live thing.
Gabe: I want to be honest, I kind of called bullshit in my head that that it that it wasn’t a real thing because in my mind, and I just want to be honest in my mind, the seasons are just going to change, right? Like, like, how could the world going through summer or spring, fall and winter like. And then suddenly this impacts our mental health. Like,
Gabe: As it just, it seems really woo woo,
Dr. Nicole: Okay, okay, well. [Laughter]
Gabe: Right. It seems like astrology to me.
Dr. Nicole: Okay. Well. [Laughter]
Gabe: That, that’s what I mean.
Dr. Nicole: Okay. So let me ask you this. Are you open to the idea that seasons, daylight changes sunlight, all that stuff? Are you open to the idea that that can affect major depressive disorder?
Gabe: So I’m open to the idea that it can impact our moods, and anything that can impact
Gabe: Our moods, of course, can be impacted by the illness. So I am on board with how this works. It’s just very confusing to me. And I also wonder if there’s not something bigger at play here.
Dr. Nicole: Okay. So I mean, I guess I would say if we think about it from purely the depression phase, right? If we don’t even we don’t even get to mania yet. If we just think about it from the depression phase, if we are open to accepting that seasonal affective disorder was a thing, if we are open to accepting that a person can have major depressive disorder with a seasonal pattern, and we probably all know someone whose mood tends to take a dip, you know, as we get to those fall winter months, then I don’t know why we would not take that same information and just pull it right on over to bipolar disorder, because that that episode of depression that you have when you have bipolar disorder is a major depressive episode, no different than the ones that people who have major depressive disorder experience. So if if we can accept it for major depressive disorder, I think we got to be able to accept it for bipolar disorder, that wouldn’t even make sense that we would not.
Gabe: Even I can’t argue that point. Like, even if I wanted to. Like, if we were on a debate team and they assigned me the counter point.
Gabe: I’d be like, well, yeah, if it’s I would have to concede that 100%. And and I do concede it not just because you’re a doctor and I know that it’s true, but also because that makes sense.
Gabe: And I think it’s important what you said, because I know a lot of times when we talk about treating bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder. Is this what did you call it? Delicate but delicate like a bomb. And I love that. But, you know, disarming a bomb is really, really scary. Unless you know what wire to cut, then it’s just clipping a wire. So
Gabe: Focusing on the symptom of depression of major depressive disorder and focusing on when you might expect that symptom to occur. Like maybe you notice that it does happen every fall. Well, that takes this, this unwieldy beast and turns it into something that is manageable and something that in, I don’t want to say predictable because that’s not the right word, but something
Gabe: That at least you can do a little bit of planning with your doctor and with yourself with like I believe the example that you used, Dr. Nicole, was if you notice that you always have this dip in the fall, well
Gabe: Then yeah, you should start making plans for that.
Dr. Nicole: Right. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with saying predictable. I mean, one of the things about using the specifier, the seasonal pattern specifier in bipolar disorder, as far as diagnostic criteria go, we’re looking for at least one of those episodes, whether it’s the mania, the hypomania or the depression, we’re looking for at least one of those to be predictable. We’re looking for one of those to, to have onset at a particular time of year. And we know it’s coming. It is predictable. I think when it’s predictable that is nice. I mean, I don’t live with bipolar disorder. However, if I did, I think it would be nice to know when to expect something. I mean, I would I would like to know like, oh, it’s August, September, October. These are the months I deal with this thing. Like I think it just would make it less scary if you knew it was coming. I mean, if you know somebody is going to be around the corner jumping out at you saying boo! It’s helpful when you know when they’re going to be there and you know exactly when they’re going to show up. It just takes some of the scariness out of it.
Gabe: One of the things that I noticed in doing research for this show and applying it to my own life, is just how many people were worried about the dip, and there were lots of scientific reasons given for a dip come autumn, right? Less sunlight. People moving from outdoor activities to indoor activities. Changes in the amount of physical activity that people got. And I think that all of those things are interesting. And I want to make sure that we discuss them in this podcast. But one of the things that that I noticed is that nobody was looking for these upticks. When is there an uptick? And the reason that I noticed it is because I live for October, November and December. These are my favorite months. Now, I don’t think that I have bipolar disorder with, you know, a seasonal tendency or anything like this. But I can tell you that historically, I’m happier in the fall because I love Halloween, I love Thanksgiving the whole Christmas season, the in the Howard household, that tree comes up as soon as Halloween is put away. We decorate for Christmas,
Dr. Nicole: Oh, wow. You don’t even wait ‘tll after Thanksgiving.
Gabe: We don’t even wait till after Thanksgiving as you. And just to really sell this to our listeners, I dress up like Santa Claus and go to drop-in centers, homeless shelters and places like that. Absolutely free to bring joy. This is how much I love the Christmas season.
Gabe: And I bring that up because that does elevate my mood, which of course makes bipolar disorder less scary. So I’m wondering, Dr. Nicole, is it possible that in this change of seasons that people are mourning the loss of activities, that it’s not necessarily a function of bipolar disorder as much as it’s just a function of life?
Dr. Nicole: So, Gabe, I think that question from you is showing your feeling, and and it kind of aligns with the previous comment you made about it being a little woo, like, you just can’t really wrap your hands around the whole sunlight, circadian rhythms. I mean, if you’re somebody out there who just needs something to dig into and you want to do some reading, do some reading about circadian rhythms and the sun and daylight and all that stuff, it’ll keep you occupied for hours. You need something to do. Go dig into that. I don’t think you can argue. Well, I mean, I guess you can, because I think you will. Because it’s what you do. But I think there’s a lot of evidence to support the role and just the very large role and impact that daylight and the sun can have on life in general.
Dr. Nicole: And for you, it sounds like that hasn’t been your experience. You haven’t noticed that. But I’m telling you, there are people listening who are saying, Gabe, you are not together like on this. Like, I love you, but you’re wrong because they know that as soon as that that length of daylight and as soon as the length of sunlight we have in the day starts to decline, they feel it. They feel that dip, they feel their energy drop. They feel that I don’t want to get out of bed. They feel their appetites pick up. They feel like they’re walking in concrete, like they feel all those things. And those people who feel that would say, you don’t know what you’re talking about. Kudos to you for not having to deal with that. But I know, I know, and I can predict it, and I know it with all my heart and soul. They know it. So I think for you it hasn’t been a thing. But there are people out there listening. I can guarantee you are screaming at their whatever device they’re listening to right now, because they feel it.
Gabe: The research is clear. You’re not wrong. I want to like this isn’t Gabe agreeing with you? The research agrees with you. And I agree with the research. Because I’m not a fool. So
Dr. Nicole: But you’re still quite skeptical. Just a little bit.
Gabe: I, one of the reasons that I’m skeptical is because. And here’s why. And I’m really, really glad that we got on this topic. It’s almost like we did it on purpose because we’re podcasters and we know what we’re going to be talking about. But when somebody says, hey, look, when there’s less sun or when it rains or when the seasons change, I can’t control it because the universe is doing this. That’s where I get a little scared, because I think there are still things that we can do. I think there are steps that we can take. Maybe, yes, you know, going from the sun setting at, at at 9:30 to 5:00. That messes up routines. We know how our routines impact our management of bipolar disorder, and changing your routine is much easier than saying, hey, as soon as there’s less sun, I’ve lost all control and I have a hard time kind of describing that sometimes because it sounds like I’m denying what is actual scientific fact, which is less sunlight, is less vitamin D, circadian rhythms matter, and my grandmother can absolutely tell you 24 hours before it rains because of her knee. All of these things can be true. But I still worry that sometimes people are just like, well, this is what the universe gave me, and there’s nothing that I can do, and
Gabe: I don’t know how to bring that up without it sounding like I’m discounting actual scientific data and research.
Dr. Nicole: Okay. Well I feel better because I
Dr. Nicole: Was thinking that you were like no it’s all crap. And I, I wasn’t sure how I was going to walk away from this episode feeling about you. I wasn’t certain.
Gabe: You, you know, I love me some research. I
Gabe: Was skeptical at first. You. You
Gabe: Are right, Dr. Nicole
Gabe: As I readily admitted before we did this episode, my BS detector was going off hard, but it was wrong. And that’s why it’s important to understand this stuff and not just go with your gut. Your gut is often wrong.
Dr. Nicole: [Laughter] You’re right. And as you were saying that, I was thinking about all the people I see. And this happens fairly often enough. I will see somebody. And maybe the timing of our visits doesn’t hit at the right time, because maybe they’ve done well for a while, and I’m seeing them every three months, and I’m not catching them at the right time. And then maybe I see them in, you know, November. And they say to me, oh, yeah, I mean, everything’s great. Yeah. My moods, you know. Is your mood still stable? Yeah, my mood still feels pretty stable, I mean, for this time of year. And I’m like, what? What does that mean? And then they start going into how, you know, every year, early November or late October, they start to have lower mood. They don’t have as much energy. It’s a little bit harder to get out of the bed. It’s a little bit more of a fight. Now, the weekends, they may not be as active. And I say, well, that doesn’t that doesn’t sound very stable. I’m usually like, I don’t understand clearly our definitions of stable are different, but to them this is stable because this is consistent. This has happened for years.As long as they can remember they have fought through this time of year. And to them, well, that’s pretty stable. That’s a stable pattern. Like I’m still able to function fairly well and it happens every year. But they never told me about it.
Gabe: And that’s really what I’ve been trying to say. The number of people that are just hunkering down and trying to get through it, and they’re sort of losing this time. They’re not leading their best lives. AndI was surprised at the number of things that there are to do about this. As Dr. Nicole just said, bring this up, make an appointment right now. Get ahead of this right now. Send an email on MyChart right now. Bother your Dr. Nicole and say, hey, I have never reported this before, but now it’s time. What we can do is delve into some things that you can try at home to try to elevate that mood in addition to working with your Dr. Nicole.
Dr. Nicole: And we’re back discussing seasonal patterns and bipolar disorder.
Gabe: So, we’re going to make a few assumptions in order to make this work. And a couple of the assumptions are one of the things that’s causing the dip are things like your schedule changing or loss of activities. And the first one that I want to get out of the way, out of the way is I noticed a tremendous number of people who report that January is the worst month ever, and they want to know what is happening to the universe in January that’s impacting their bipolar disorder.
Gabe: And they reported that they felt this way because of the cold and the snow and the lack of daylight. But some researchers actually pointed out that, you know, there’s a holiday letdown, that people without any mental health issues go through. We have to catch up on all that work that we skipped out on during December. So we’re busier. We put so much effort into seeing people, which elevated our moods during the holidays, and those people are all now back to their normal lives, or in some cases back to their normal states and homes. We only see them over the holidays. There is this letdown. And then that letdown gets greeted by shorter days, less daylight, snow, ice, cold. All of those things converge to make us feel, well, frankly, less happy. And one of the things that they talked about as a coping skill for this is make some plans in January. We’re so focused in December on making plans for the holiday that nobody thinks, hey, how about January 15th? We all go shopping and return all those crappy gifts we got and make a day of it, and that gives you something to look forward to with friends and family.
Dr. Nicole: I like that one because I do think the holidays take us down in ways we are often oddly not prepared for. And oddly, because it happens every year, you know, we eat a bunch of stuff. We we know that we don’t normally eat, we spend money we don’t have to spend, and then we have to we have to spend the first 2 or 3 months of the year recovering and everybody’s cranky. Everybody I see is cranky after the holidays. So yeah, I mean, I love that. I do think taking some time to take inventory of exactly what else is going on in your life and seeing what you can do. That one I like. I’m on board for this. I like that one.
Gabe: I’m glad you like that. Now, let’s take it back to when it’s multiple months. You know, I learned that many people, they were giving up and literally entire seasons, three, four, five-month periods were just like, oh, yeah, I’m worthless during those months. And I do nothing. And again, taking that 30,000-foot view, what is it that you’re missing? And for some people, they really noticed that it was those outdoor activities. They like to get outside, they like to be in the sun and they lose that. Now, unfortunately I the first idea that I had was everybody should go to Florida, right? That would cure this up. We’ll all just quit our jobs. We’ll all go to Florida and we’ll all hang out in the beauty and the sunlight. You can also go to California, right? Or I want to give people options on both coasts, but I’m guessing that most of us have to go to our day jobs, take care of our families, and do things like that. So one of the things that was really posited and pointed out in a lot of the discussions and research was, why do we stop exercising just because we can’t do it outside?
Gabe: Is there a benefit to joining that gym, getting on that treadmill, making that part of our routine? What things can we mimic and keep doing and see if that elevates our moods as well? And there was a lot of creative thinking in what people could do. And, you know, one of the things that somebody said is I just bought a really, really strong winter coat and I go walking in zero-degree weather in the dark. And I got to tell you, I enjoyed it. Now my knee jerk reaction is to say that that person is mad, but because this is a mental health no, I, I understand what they’re saying. They’re saying that they value this so much, they found a way around it. And that has elevated their mood.
Dr. Nicole: Okay, I’ll give you that. I mean, I, I mean, my if anybody could see the face I made when you said that, I was like, zero-degree coat and going outside in the wintertime. If it’s below 60, I do not want to go outside. So I, I don’t know if that would be me, but I do understand what you’re saying. And, and I do think that sometimes people get stuck so they get stuck and I’m a runner. I get such great endorphins from running. Running is such a part of my mental health routine. And in the winter time, you’re right there, not outside running because it isn’t pleasant. And then people say, well, I guess I just can’t do anything. And it’s like, well, that’s a far leap from I can’t go outside and run because it’s too cold, so I’m not going to do anything. So I do think creativity becomes important, or at least coming up with a close second, a reasonable second, knowing that the sunlight will be back, you will be able to run again. But coming up with something that that at least gets close to, to that amount of satisfaction you get from whatever that outdoor thing is.
Gabe: I want to keep the word creativity up for a moment, because I want to get people out of the idea of thinking that this is just the way it is, and that there’s nothing that they can do about it. You’re right. You might not be able to have the same level of joy and happiness during certain seasons that you have during other seasons, and I really think that that’s not a bipolar thing as much as it is part of the human condition. I think the reason that I love fall more isn’t because I have bipolar disorder. It’s just because a lot of the activities that I really enjoy just happen to occur in the fall, and I just really love them. So when I look at the rest of the year, I don’t want to be down for the rest of the year. So what can I do during the rest of the year? And that’s where that creativity comes in. And obviously we’ve used some low hanging fruit, right? If you like to exercise outside, but you can’t exercise inside. But it’s also possible that this is a good excuse to find another hobby. What
Gabe: Are what are some other things that you enjoy that are indoor activities? Now I’m going to use my grandfather as an example because I love using my grandfather as an example. My grandfather loved huge projects. He he refinished furniture. He loved building, he built onto his own house, for Pete’s sake. But he lived in Pennsylvania. He lived in the valley of Pennsylvania, where you could routinely expect to get 2-to-3-foot snowfalls. No problem. But he liked working with his hands. So eventually, when he got older and he realized he couldn’t just force himself to work outside anymore, he took up dollhouse building. And that’s what he would do all winter. And this was something that he came to later in life. He wasn’t building dollhouses when he was 30. He was
Gabe: Braving the, the, the elements when he was 30. But when he hit 60, he couldn’t do that anymore. But he still wanted to work with his hands. He still wanted a project and he still wanted to build. And he started building dollhouses, much to my grandmother’s chagrin. On the dining room table. And we all have doll houses. All of his grandchildren have doll houses. He started with the granddaughters, then moved on to the grandsons when his oldest, who shall remain me, demanded one because everybody else got one. But I think about that kind of creativity and that side of that kind of outside of the box thinking. And I think it really can value the folks who are suffering from, from some seasonal issues to maybe think a little more creatively.
Dr. Nicole: Yeah. I mean that is similar advice that I give to people who maybe find themselves with some unexpected physical disability that prevents them from doing something that they used to enjoy. You know, you always work your way backwards and you start thinking about what is it about that thing that you enjoy so much? What is it about that activity?
Gabe: So to summarize, lifestyle changes can make a big impact, but you’ve got to do the work. And also to summarize, medication changes. If you tell your Dr. Nicole and are honest with your psychiatrist can pay big dividends. Is there anything else that we didn’t cover? Anything that people can do at home?
Dr. Nicole: I want to make sure I talk about light boxes, because I know that as soon as you Google seasonal affective disorder or depression in the wintertime, or winter blues or whatever, you’re going to see about five ads for light boxes pop up, and people are going to say, this is amazing. This is a fantastic idea. I’m just going to go with this light box. There is data to support that. It helps with depression during this time of year and all those things are great. It can be wonderful. There is data to support that. It can help seasonal depression, but you have to be careful if you have bipolar disorder using a light box, because it can spark a little hypomania or mania for some people. So you just have to be careful. You need to make sure you’re talking to your doctor about it. Make sure they know that you’re thinking about doing this, get their opinions on it. Make sure everybody involved knows what the potential risks are before you jump into something like that.
Gabe: You know, it’s really interesting that you brought that up because you’re right. A lot of people with bipolar disorder are going to search for seasonal affective disorder or seasonal depression or depressed during the holidays, and they’re going to get research on depression, not on bipolar. And then they’re going to get products for depression, not for people with
Gabe: Bipolar disorder. So thank you for making us aware of that. I do have a follow up question, Dr. Nicole. The light box is causing mania. There’s a there’s a wow. I never would have thought that could be a thing. But again, we should also point out that not all light boxes are created equal.
Gabe: Just because you spend $1,000 on one doesn’t mean that it has the right bulb. And just because one cost $30 doesn’t mean that it’s not going to work. So make sure to do a little research and make sure that you don’t get taken advantage of. Now, mania is a really super interesting thing.
Gabe: Now, I want to be clear, every single email that we got on this topic and everything I read was all depression. But bipolar disorder isn’t just depression, it’s also mania. Is there mania symptoms? Is there an uptick of mania when summer hits? Do people have, you know, summer mania? I don’t I don’t even know how that would work.
Dr. Nicole: So we’ve talked about how the DSM has specifiers under the bipolar diagnoses for the depression phase. For seasonal pattern. Those same specifiers apply to hypomania and mania. So there are people who have a seasonal component or a seasonal pattern to their hypomania and mania, so that the answer is yes. You may be one of those people. Earlier in my career I did assertive community treatment and I would do home visits for people who had more severe forms of bipolar disorder or more severe forms of schizophrenia, and we knew it. I had certain folks with just more severe. I’m telling you, they. We knew it, we knew it, we knew it. We knew that certain people had hospitalizations for mania in the spring. We knew that that was some people’s patterns. I got to see that because I spent so much time with these people, and I was so intimately involved in their care and their history and their knowledge. That has kind of shaped how I look at this. So now when I see people when I’m working hospital or people in my outpatient practice who may not have illnesses that have that severe of symptoms, but they can still see that uptick in the spring. So if you’re somebody if you’re sitting there thinking and you’re like, yeah, every admission for mania I’ve had been like March, April, May, maybe you are somebody who had a seasonal component to your bipolar disorder and didn’t even realize that was a thing, because we don’t really talk about the manic phase as much.
Gabe: One of the reasons we don’t talk about it is because that’s not when people ask for help. It’s not surprising to me that we don’t get a lot of emails about how I know mania is coming at this time of year, how do I get rid of it?
Gabe: People who are truly afraid of mania are already working on this and they don’t need our help.
Dr. Nicole: And I do think that just like with depression, we talked about people just deal with it. I mean, I do see people who say, oh yeah, I’ve been hospitalized, like every year in April. Kind of happens every year in April. And and they just think, well, it’s just one of those things. I just have to live with it because they don’t think there’s anything that can be done. So even if you’re out there and you can think about your pattern and you say, you know what, I’m always in the hospital in April. Maybe it’s time to have a discussion with your Dr. Nicole in February or March and say, hey, listen, every year for the last five years, I have been either hospitalized or on the verge of hospitalization in April. What can we do about that? You all may be able to come up with some creative prescribing, things that you can do to help you avoid that feeling. So, I mean, just don’t sit with it. It’s not a sentence that you just have to deal with.
Gabe: I think that many people think about mania being a summer thing and depression being a winter thing. Is that reversible? Are there people out there who are experiencing depression in the summer seasonally. And so their pattern is the exact opposite? Or does everybody generally follow this same pattern?
Dr. Nicole: It is more common to see the depressions in that fall/winter, and to see the manias in that spring/summer, but it doesn’t mean that the opposite can’t be true. There are people whose seasonal pattern is that they’re more depressed in the summer, which kind of flies in the face of what we’ve talked about as far as what could be a possible cause, which just shows you everybody’s cause isn’t the same. Everybody’s patterns aren’t the same. And you can absolutely have somebody who says, yeah, I’m manic every fall winter. It can be reversed, though it is more common the way that we’ve been talking about it.
Gabe: I really like the theme of this episode, which is that seasonal bipolar is real. Bipolar disorder with with a seasonal impact is a real thing. But the second part of it is also true, which is we don’t have to accept it and live with it. I do feel that many people just feel like this is part of the cyclical nature of bipolar disorder, and that they would just do best to grin and bear it. And I hope that this episode has convinced people that they don’t have to do that. There are things that they can do. There are things that they can try, and especially if this is happening around the same time every year, you’re going to get a lot of bites at the apple to try a lot of different things rather than just sit and accept it, because I never want that to be the message. I never want the message to be, oh, this bad thing happened to you because of bipolar disorder. Well, tough. You have bipolar, but if you’re not reaching out, if you’re not talking to your psychiatrist, your therapist. Your nurse practitioner. Your providers. Your support groups. Your peer support. Even your friends or family. If you’re not reporting this to anybody, if you’re not really looking into it and you’re not making any changes, well, then, yeah, the only thing left to do is to sit with it and grin and bear it. But I really, really, really want to empower our listeners to be much more proactive in their care.
Dr. Nicole: And share it with your Dr. Nicole. Don’t just sit on it thinking, oh well, my symptoms aren’t that big. They don’t put me in the hospital. I don’t have really big bad things that happen. Make sure you share it, even if it just bugs you and you just don’t like it. Share it with your Dr. Nicole. The only way they can help you is if you tell them what’s going on.
Gabe: There’s nothing too small. Right, Dr. Nicole? All data matters.
Dr. Nicole: Aww, look it there. It absolutely does.
Gabe: All right, Dr. Nicole, thank you so much for being here. And to all of our listeners, thank you for being here as well. We need favors from you first. Wherever you downloaded this episode, please follow or subscribe to the show. It is absolutely free and you don’t want to miss a thing. Next, tell everybody you know about the Inside Bipolar podcast mentioned in support Group. Share your favorite episodes on social media. Do everything you can to spread the word about the show because we can’t afford advertising, so we need your help. Sharing the show with the people you know is how we’re going to grow. My name is Gabe Howard and I am the author of “Mental Illness Is an Asshole and Other Observations.” You can learn more about me by heading over to gabehoward.com. You can also follow me on TikTok and Instagram @AskABipolar.
Dr. Nicole: I’m Dr. Nicole Washington. You can find me on all those social media platforms @DrNicolePsych to see all the things I have my hand in at any given moment.
Gabe: And we’ll see everybody next time on Inside Bipolar.
Announcer: You’ve been listening to Inside Bipolar from Healthline Media and psychcentral.com. Have feedback for the show? E-mail us at [email protected]. Previous episodes can be found at psychcentral.com/ibp or on your favorite podcast player. Thank you for listening.
