There is a particular kind of pain that does not present cleanly on the surface. It embeds itself into your relationships, reactions, and the quiet moments of irritation a person never feels fully able to name.

Regardless of what brought you here, I am glad you are here. Some of us find ourselves exploring bipolar disorderbecause a clinician like me or maybe your primary care provider happened to mention it to you, and it feels like it has been nagging at you ever since.

Anxiety has become a mainstay in our vernacular over the years, and yet, maintains an almost mystical quality in its definition, symptoms, and best ways of dealing with it. I think it is high time to look at it closer from a clinical lens.

There’s usually a moment, sometimes it’s in a grad school info session, sometimes after your third friend says, “you’re really easy to talk to”, where you wonder, could I do this for real? Tucked underneath that is the scarier question: what am I actually signing up for?