Doctors told Brigid Sheehan that she had clinical depression when she was 18 years old; however, when looking back, she realises that the condition may have been affecting her long before she received the diagnosis. Me and My Bipolar details what it felt like to go through all of life’s stages – childhood, university, work and building a family – as someone with bipolar. She shows “the utter misery of depression and out-of-control vulnerability of mania” she has faced, but she has written about her experiences with palpable hope and, at times, a sense of humour.

She says, “I have chosen to tell the story of my lifelong experience as a bipolar sufferer because I think another person's lived experience can help access knowledge, although no two situations are the same... Bipolar has not become a friend, but I have simply got to know it better and found the means to cope.” Brigid also hopes to be a source of strength and inspiration for anyone suffering from bipolar or ill mental health.

Brigid wrote her book during a Covid lockdown and retirement from a long career in social work that coincided. She lives in a peaceful semi rural setting in Southern England with her partner. They have two young men in their twenties.