Slice of Life with Rob Stephenson
Rob Stephenson is an influential mental health campaigner, successful keynote speaker, Founder and CEO of FormScore, and Founder of the InsideOut LeaderBoard. Rob also lives with bipolar disorder.
How would you describe living with bipolar for someone who's never experienced it?
Bipolar is a mental illness characterised by extremes of mood – from deep dark depression, through to periods of hypomania. The depression element can feel like there’s an unbearable weight sitting on your shoulders, and even the simplest of tasks feel monumentally difficult. The mania feels like a drug that drives you to take risks, make impulsive decisions and purchases, and makes you believe that your ideas are always 100% correct.
However, there is a period between these two extremes where creativity flows, energy is high, and there is no fear of failure. Like all of us, someone who is experiencing bipolar is on a continuum. It’s just that for the bipolar person, the extremes of mood on this continuum are more pronounced.
Has bipolar disorder ever held you back in your life or career?
At times, bipolar has certainly held me back with the depression making life hard to bear at times, and the mania leading to some pretty questionable decisions, business ventures and projects. My life has been intertwined with coming to terms with who I am, and the impact of these extremes on my career, my family and myself.
However, bipolar has also played a part in some of my most significant successes and achievements, and influenced my ability to challenge the status quo as a mental health campaigner.
What impact does bipolar have on the people around you?
Bipolar can have a significantly positive and negative effect on people around me. My family has to bear the brunt of these extremes of mood, including periods where I'm totally focused on my work or whatever project is so important to me.
At other times, I can be withdrawn and disconnected due to the low feelings that I'm experiencing through depression. This can be really difficult for those around me. I can also take people along with me as I look to implement one of my ideas. Bipolar people can be hugely persuasive and it is quite easy for others to be carried along on the wave of excitement and enthusiasm.
What have you found to be the greatest positive of bipolar disorder?
There are elements of my cycle that I would term a superpower: an unstoppable drive, hyper-creativity, no fear of failure, and an ability to attempt the difficult or impossible. On the flip side, there is the huge cost of these positives in terms of the depression, the risk taking, and the lows. However, it’s a price that I am more than willing to pay for what my mental uniqueness gives me.
What advice would you give to someone who's just been diagnosed with bipolar?
The main advice that I would give to somebody who's been diagnosed with bipolar is don't worry too much about the label. Every person on the planet has swings of mood, and we shouldn't be too concerned that ours might be a little bit more extreme.
The second piece of advice would be to surround yourself with people who are aware of your condition and who are able to sense-check your decisions when you might be in a state of hypermania. This same support group will also be there for you when you're feeling low.
Thirdly, it’s great that you've got a diagnosis, but please work with the medical professionals to get the support you need, and work out a regime of recovery and management that is effective for you.
And finally, do enjoy the positives bipolar brings when you’re in that state of balance between the highs and the lows.
Follow Rob on LinkedIn to keep up with his fantastic work in the mental health space, and be sure to download the FormScore app to better support your own mental health, and the mental health of the people around you. You can also sign up to the FridayForm newsletter for regular updates, stories, blogs and podcasts from the world of mental health.