Merryl Hammond5 days ago3 minMad Like Me: Book club Q&A—Part 1Recently, some folks from a book club in the US contacted me after they’d read and discussed my 2018 memoir, Mad Like Me: Travels in...
Merryl HammondMar 311 minHappy World Bipolar Day!Every year on March 30th, it’s World Bipolar Day. A special day for us all to pause and reflect on this confounding disorder and how it...
Merryl HammondMar 43 min“Navigating Bipolar Country”: my new bipolar anthology! Just released! I’m so excited! After two-and-a-half years collaborating with an amazing group of 42 contributors, this powerful new...
Merryl HammondDec 7, 20214 minManaging holiday stressHo, ho, ho! Happy Hanukkah! Et cetera, et cetera. The holidays are here again! But you obviously didn’t need me to tell you that, did...
Merryl HammondNov 19, 20212 minQuick updates from Bipolar CountryMissing in action Regular readers of this blog will have noticed that I’ve been silent—MIA, actually—for many months recently. “Where has...
Merryl HammondMay 12, 20213 minHas the pandemic affected your mental health?My own experience during the pandemic I don’t know about you, but when the pandemic hit here in Canada in March 2020, a cold chill went...
Merryl HammondApr 23, 20214 minWrite it out!Writing as therapy Writing about (hypo)mania In my memoir, Mad Like Me: Travels in Bipolar Country, I say: “Bipolar made me feel like a...
Merryl HammondDec 31, 20202 minNew Year’s resolution: get some sleep!People like me who have a mental illness need to take control of our own lifestyles and self-care, in addition to taking our prescribed...
Merryl HammondDec 21, 20203 minCOVID-19 and Suicide: New ReportThe holidays can be a particularly stressful time for many, and that's in "normal" years. This year, with the added strain from COVID-19...
Merryl HammondDec 10, 20202 minCOVID-19 and mental illness: any evidence of a link?In a previous blog post, I argued that a mental illness should be considered to be an “underlying condition” that puts us at much higher...
Merryl HammondDec 3, 20202 minProtecting our mental health in the COVID-19 eraSomething that’s been on my mind a lot since the pandemic started is this: how will the stress of COVID-19, physical distancing and...
Merryl HammondSep 11, 20202 minMental illness is an “underlying condition” that makes us at-risk during the pandemicOne of my main concerns in doing the research for my e-book, COVID-19 in Bipolar Country, was that none of the researchers were making...
Merryl HammondJul 24, 20201 minJust published an e-book about bipolar and COVID-19!In an earlier post, I discussed 4 key tips for coping with COVID-19, and then in my last post, I wrote about COVID-19 and the mental...
Merryl HammondMay 17, 20202 minCOVID-19 and the mental health of health care workersMy previous post on March 24, Coping with COVID-19, mentioned four strategies I use to “stay sane in self-isolation.” Apart from my...
Merryl HammondMar 24, 20204 minCoping with COVID-19Have you been feeling way more stressed out than usual, like you’re teetering on the edge of a breakdown with all the uncertainty around...
Merryl HammondDec 12, 20194 minHow to Implement a Routine for StabilityIn a previous post, I talked about WHY daily routines are so crucial to maintain mental stability. To recap quickly, it’s because...
Merryl HammondOct 11, 20193 minThe Benefits of Smiling: Why you should find one (or 100) reason(s) to smile every day!Humans are a naturally smiley species. We appear to begin smiling even while we’re still in the womb. There are so many emotional and...
Merryl HammondSep 21, 20194 minUse a Routine to Recover from BipolarIn my previous post, I explain how my type-A personality contributed to the development of my bipolar disorder, and – ironically – to my...
Merryl HammondAug 29, 20193 minDid My Personality Type Cause My Bipolar?One of my several bookcases of binders I used to pride myself on my total type-A personality. Over-achiever, control freak, wannabe...
Merryl HammondJul 10, 20194 min“Most productive week of my life”: A Self-Guided, At-Home Writer’s RetreatA version of this article first appeared on the Nonfiction Authors Association’s blog on May 23 2019. Beyond my budget! Problem: As a...