Hello, come on in and stay a while….

Good day, and welcome to my humble blog. I hope that you find some comfort and also that this little corner of the net serves as a valuable resource of information about Bipolar Disorder, as well as mental health. I strive to provide insight, solace, a touch point for others to feel less alone, and a valuable resource of information for mental health sufferers.

I started this blog so many years ago. It was a formal website back in 1999/2000 when the web was a new frontier and WordPress was not available. My mother encouraged me to start writing about my mental health journey. She felt it would be good for me and perhaps help others as well. At the time my mom suggested I create a website, I was already writing for a local outreach center’s newsletter. I was new to writing for public consumption and a tad nervous about opening up that can of worms to the whole world.

I thought long and hard about it back then. There were not as many sites or blogs about mental health, and fewer that were focused on Bipolar Disorder in particular. Now, there is a plethora of Mental Health information resource websites and blogs on the web to choose from. I encourage my readers to take note of other blogs and sites as well as mine. It is important to learn as many different views and ideas about how to proactively deal with Bipolar Disorder in a constructive manner. Everyone sufferers this disorder individually, what works for some may not apply to others.

So, please understand that if what you find in this blog does not apply to your personal struggle with mental health, I strongly encourage you to seek out another resource or opinion. We are all different, and we all respond to different therapies, medications, and viewpoints. Make sure you keep searching for the resources and information that applies to your individual needs.

When my mom asked me what I wanted to call my website I was a bit lost as to an appropriate title for my mental health quagmire. What do you call a website based on your own personal journey through a wasteland of issues and crises after crises?

Then one day as I was sitting sipping a cup of coffee I noticed my son’s head appearing and disappearing in my kitchen window. It hit me, my mental health experience was like being on a trampoline. I had my soaring ups and my plummeting downs that would feel like I was slamming into rock bottom, only to be hurled back up again to flail around in mid-air with no idea how to stop. The name My Mental Trampoline seemed to make such good sense right then, and it stuck.

My mother created the original website and did all the design/programming for it. It was a pretty amazing accomplishment for her, she basically learned website design in a matter of days. Back then there were no easy “do-it-yourself” website/blog builder websites like WordPress. You had to know programming code and how to load your content to the net.

The deal was, she would maintain the site if I created the content. I was quite unsure that my writing abilities were up to par for a public website, but my mom felt I should at least give it a try. So, I sat down and started writing. Before I knew it, I had created quite a bit of content and found the whole experience inspiring. I enrolled myself in University and was on my way to a PHD in Psychology when life got in the way. I was forced to leave school and take a hiatus from my writing for My Mental Trampoline.

The picture below is my first website logo. My mom created it. I keep it here as a nostalgic nod to the early beginnings of my work. And, a personal thank you to my mom, who has been my greatest source of support and encouragement.

Over the years the site/blog has reached people all over the world and I have also worked as a mental health advocate. The plight of those struggling to make sense of the mental health quagmire of Bipolar Disorder, Anxiety, and Clinical Depression has always been a priority for me. I fight for mental health rights and resources every day. I have been involved with many organizations over the past few years, including Mood Disorders of Manitoba and Anxiety Disorders. I strive to create a world in which stigma and ignorance about mental health issues are eliminated.

Many of the articles you see included in this blog up to this point were created for that first incarnation of the site. Since then I have become a more experienced writer. And, looking back on some of them, I tend to cringe. So, I am hoping to rewrite them and add new ones. I wish to breath new life into the Trampoline and share with my readers what I have come to learn about Bipolar Disorder since those early days.

I wish my readers to know that I take the “common sense” view on many mental health issues. I do not believe in using a mental health disorder/issue as a “crutch” or a reason to not be a contributing member of Society. I firmly believe that many mental health sufferers out there can find a way down their own individual path of enlightenment to discover a way to live with their disorder, not be ruled by it.

I may express some views that may seem harsh or unkind to people who have a differing opinion on how to deal with mental illness. I understand that people may not agree with my opinions expressed here. And, I am perfectly ok with it. Why? Well, because there will be those who do find my writings helpful and insightful. It is for those people that I have decided to return to my blog and continue being an advocate for proactive living with a mental health disorder.

If you feel slighted or upset by my attitudes and beliefs expressed in this blog I ask only that you understand that for others it may be a lifeline. We all must realize that there is a massive spectrum of mental health issues and opinions out there. The old adage “you will please some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time” is used here. I hope that you find another blog or website that better services your needs and I wish you only the best of mental health.

Please be advised that the information provided on this blog is not meant to take the place of a real therapeutic environment. The opinions expressed herein are only opinions and not meant to be taken as medical advice. We encourage everyone who reads this blog to seek out advice and medical treatment by mental health professionals. If you should find something on this blog that speaks to you, please seek advice from a mental health professional before adopting it as a form of therapy.

I am a resident of Canada and will only be able to include Canadian/Manitoban sources for mental health outreach programs. However, I will create a page on this blog if readers should desire to send in links to legitimate medical/mental health outreach resources in their own region of the world. We will then post them by state, province, region, and country so that people can see if there are local resources they can take advantage of.

I will state this clearly here and now, we will not tolerate advertisers, pyramid ploys, or links that may endanger our readers in any way. They will not be included on the page, please email any link you may feel relevant to this blog to:

subgenreswinnipeg@gmail.com