There is a mental illness support group for almost every psychiatric disorder or abuse. As a person on the receiving end of verbal abuse for years, attending a support group propelled me forward exponentially and I encourage people to locate a support group and attend it. But sometimes, people are intimidated and do not attend. They desperately want the emotional support, but perhaps stepping outside of their comfort zone is too much when added on top of everything else they're experiencing.

Plenty of people make jokes about mental illness. But it’s a rare humorist who delivers sobering insight while administering that arguably best medicine, laughter. Alistair McHarg is one of those precious few. After 40+ years of life with bipolar disorder, Alistair has the experience and wisdom to know that there’s a profound difference between levity and turning serious, even life-threatening conditions into mere punchlines.

According to commonly quoted statistics, 90 percent of bipolar marriages end in divorce. When one factors in the difficulties of living with somebody who cycles through depressive and manic episodes, including manic episodes in some bipolars of binge spending, or worse, hypersexuality which results in infidelity, it is not difficult to see why the odds are stacked up against a long lasting bipolar marriage.

A mental illness, especially during the adjustment period after first receiving a diagnosis, can be filled with a lot of strife and heartache. The challenges are only compounded by the fact that many find themselves more isolated and alone than ever before in their life. Our guest this week, Stephanie, has found herself in just that place, alone like never before.

After a hospital mistake left her totally disabled for six months, Dr. Carolyn Gabb struggled harder than ever to cope with bipolar symptoms. Though she’s since recovered enough to resume her work as an artist, living with bipolar disorder isn’t easy. “Art is a way of coping, and living an enriched life,” she says.

On Christmas day ten years ago, Barb Hildebrand became a widow. Diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder just one month prior, her husband Rob committed suicide. "My entire world changed in ways I could never have imagined," she says of her life after suicide.

On this week's HealthyPlace Mental Health Radio Show, Richard Jarzynka shares his personal struggle with bipolar disorder and discusses the surprising bright side of bipolar.

"Take a look inside my Bipolar Brain and you'll see crazy," proclaims Breaking Bipolar blog author, Natasha Tracy. Natasha is diagnosed with bipolar II, ultra-rapid cycling and has been in treatment for over a decade. Unfortunately, even after trying numerous bipolar treatments, Natasha has received little relief.