Why Going at Your Own Pace is Okay

My story with excessive debt and bipolar disorder.

Watercolor painting of a person walking alone in the wilderness. | Graphic made by author with Canva.

Hi there!

A fellow bipolar warrior posted on X/Twitter, “Has anyone else racked up mountains of debt while in a bipolar episode, or is it just me?”

Oh, honey, I thought to myself. It’s definitely not just you.

I don’t tell this story often because it embarrasses me, but I’m trying to get over that.

If you yack in public while fighting a physical illness, you shouldn’t feel embarrassed. You likely couldn’t help it.

We need to feel the same way when we talk about the things we did while under the control of a mental illness.

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“It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.”

- Confucius 

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Scott Ninneman publishes two newsletters. The Sunday All Things Bipolar Newsletter (off Substack) features the newest content about bipolar life. The Speaking Bipolar Positivity Club Newsletter shares inspirational stories three times a week for a positive mindset.

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The Early Days

My bipolar diagnosis came in the spring of 1995.

I was 23 but had been running the manic race for about three years prior. In those three years, I moved away from my family and friends, started and eventually failed in a business, and created a Himalayan mountain of debt.

After a 10-day hospital stay, I spent months playing the medication shuffle. Never played? Let me tell you the rules.