Thriving with Mental Illness: Q&A with Susannah Bortner

Here’s a message we don’t hear nearly enough: Even though living with mental illness is hard — really hard — many people are successfully managing their conditions and savoring satisfying, healthy lives. Here’s another message we need to hear more: How they do it. That’s why we’ve created this new interview series. It debuted last month with Elaina J. Martin, who writes the popular Psych Central blog Being Beautifully Bipolar. This month we’re honored to talk to Susannah Bortner, a mom, writer, early education teacher and amateur baker living in Brooklyn, N.Y. Below, Bortner, who has panic disorder and has struggled with clinical depression, reveals the challenges of living with mental illness and how letting others in has helped.1 She also discusses the importance of medication and psychotherapy for her treatment along with how loved ones can help and what she’d like individuals who’ve just been diagnosed to know – and much more. Please tell us a bit about your background and when you were first diagnosed. Mental illness runs rampant throughout my family history, on both sides of my family. At least six of my direct family members have been hospitalized for depression, bipolar disorder turns up repeatedly in my family history, and anxiety disorders are also common. So at least my parents knew, from other family members’ histories with mental illness, to watch for the warning signs as I approached adolescence. Although I can remem...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Tags: Anxiety and Panic Disorders General Interview Mental Health and Wellness Psychotherapy Treatment Advocacy Mental Disorder Mental Illness Panic Attack Panic Disorder Suicide Susannah Bortner thriving with mental illness Source Type: blogs