Zeitschrift für traumatische Belastungsstörungen und Behandlung

Bipolar and a PhD Student? Two Years and Two Different Perspectives

Ren VanderLind

This auto ethnography of being a female academic with bipolar disorder emerged from an interview about personal experiences during the first year of a doctoral program and a personal paper written about a social justice issue. This article first delves into the driving forces behind my struggles and successes during my first year as a doctoral student. Secondly, it addresses the new voice I found during my second year as a PhD student. Finally, I discuss how these voices interact, converging and diverging as a third voice emerges. This is auto ethnography of what having bipolar disorder can mean to a newly-diagnosed individual. It is an article of struggle, triumph, and many emotions in between.