Living with bipolar: what I think nurses should know

Orla, a Bipolar UK peer support officer, shares her own personal experiences and how nurses can help to destigmatise the mental health condition

• Bipolar is a severe mental illness characterised by extreme mood swings and changes in energy levels
• People with bipolar can have long or short periods of stability, but can then go ‘low’ or ‘high’
• Bipolar symptoms are usually first noticeable in teenagers and young adults

Since the age of 14 I have had symptoms of bipolar, with alternating periods of depression and hypomania.

When I started university, I would have crippling bouts of social anxiety where I would stop going out, followed by periods where it