Pushing Forward with Alycia | A Disability Podcast

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Understanding Bipolar Disorder

Welcome to another episode of “Pushing Forward with Alycia | A Disability Podcast,” where we amplify voices from the disability community. This May, during Mental Health Awareness Month, Alycia is joined by her sister-in-law and personal hero, Peggy Sellery. Peggy, an MIT and Columbia graduate, opens up about her years long struggle with bipolar disorder, shedding light on both the challenges and triumphs of learning how to accept, manage and adapt to her newfound condition.

Peggy discusses growing up in a family where disability was already present due to her brother (Alycia’s husband) Marty’s accident, which occurred when she was very young. This early exposure played a significant role in shaping her perspectives on disability and mental health.

🌟 Peggy’s Path to Empowerment:

📚 From academic excellence to mental health advocacy.

✍️ Finding her voice through writing and self-expression.

🧠 Understanding the swings of bipolar disorder—from deep lows to manic highs.

🌈 Embracing her creative spirit and confronting societal stigmas.

Personal quote from Peggy

The mind is a powerful force, striving for survival. Learning to embrace my mental health journey has taught me resilience and self-acceptance.

Peggy Sellery

Peggy opens and shares her inspiring story and offers advice on how everyone can contribute to breaking the mental health stigma. Community support and understanding can significantly impact each and everyone of our lives when we work toward better mental health and wellness together.

Through candid conversation and shared experiences, we aim to foster a more inclusive and understanding world.

Become an ally for at risk youth in your community, learn more at Communities For Youth, an organization that focuses on upstream prevention of suicide

Need Immediate Help?

If you or someone you know is struggling with their mental wellness, help is available. Visit Mental Health Awareness Month and NAMI’s Bipolar Disorder Guide. Learn self-help mental health therapy tools like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), go to www.selfhelptoons.com and learn from their free animated video courses.

Let’s See Love Today

A social movement to spread the joy in loving yourself by decorating fun silly glasses and hiding them around your town. Imagine how you would feel finding a pair of glasses lying around your town with a note attached that reads, “HELLO, LOVELY! You are invited to keep these glasses as a reminder to look at yourself and others through the LENS OF LOVE, to view the world with the deeper perspective that TRUE BEAUTY comes from BEING WHO WE REALLY ARE, and to recognize that our “looks” don’t actually have much to do with beauty at all!”

• Let’s see what happens when we all really look.
• Let’s gaze at our hearts instead of our bodies.
• Let’s notice our strengths instead of our faults.
• Let’s recognize our struggles along with our successes.
• Let’s appreciate our differences along with our similarities.
• Let’s discover our Oneness that is deeper than Otherness.
• And let’s acknowledge that WE ALL NEED TO FEEL SEEN.
• Let’s see what happens when we all really look.

LET’S SEE what happens when we all really LOVE… TODAY.

Download the “Let’s See Love Today” PDF, print it and attach it to glasses you create and want to hide around your town! Included are QR codes to follow the movement on Facebook and Instagram as well as handy phone numbers, links to resources for crisis centers and suicide prevention, as well as links to tools to help improve your mental fortitude, strength and health.

Connect with Peggy:

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Stay tuned for more inspiring conversations on Pushing Forward with Alycia. Open hearts, clear paths. Let’s go.