Healing the Tigress Ep. 18 - Bipolar Disorder and the Pursuit of Motherhood with Michelle Yang
Bipolar disorder affects 2-3% of the general population, and about half of the women with bipolar disorder are first diagnosed in the postpartum period. In today's episode, we talk with a mother with lived experience of bipolar 1 disorder and how it affected her journey to and through motherhood.
Michelle Yang is third generation ethnic Chinese born in South Korea, and she immigrated to the U.S. when she was 9. She is a mental health advocate and writer whose writings on the intersection of Asian American identity, body image, and mental health have been featured in NBC News, CNN, InStyle, Shondaland, Reader’s Digest, HuffPost, and more. She was a former editor at InStyle and Shape. Her memoir, PHOENIX GIRL: HOW A FAT ASIAN WITH BIPOLAR FOUND LOVE is forthcoming from Fifth Avenue Press in January 2025.
In our episode today, Michelle tells us the story of how she was first diagnosed with Bipolar 1 Disorder at the age of 20. We discussed how Michelle had always wanted to be a mom, but she had to grapple with her diagnosis and what that meant. She decided her bipolar disorder was not going to limit her in her ability to live her life the way she wanted to, especially once she was in a loving marriage, financially secure, and mentally well for a prolonged period of time.
Michelle walks us through her process of therapy and assembling the right medical team before becoming pregnant, highlighting the challenges along the way--including some insensitive providers who told her she should just not have biological children. We talk about her medications and what it was like during pregnancy leading up to a traumatic birth. Then we talk about how she managed in postpartum when her symptoms came back, particularly with depression and guilt over not breastfeeding because she had to take care of her mental health.
This is a deeply moving and thought-provoking conversation about how mental health can be both stigmatized and dramatized, but at the end of the day, people living with mental health disorders also need to know that they can still thrive with their conditions. We hope you will tune in to this beautiful discussion of triumph over stigmas.
Find more of Michelle:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michelleyangwriter/
- Website: https://www.livingwellhappily.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michelleyangwriter
Note: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speakers' own. This podcast is not a replacement for therapy or professional/medical advice. If you need more support or advice, please reach out to your own medical professional who can answer your questions with your individual medical history and background in context.
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