Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:32:28 — 127.0MB)

Show Notes:

Troy Steven reached out to me somewhere within the last two years. He found me right as I was stalling out on my last two podcasts. So I never responded.

But he was gracious enough to agree to be interviewed again! (Thanks Troy!)

Turned out to be a very fun interview!

Troy’s Story:

Troy Steven got his first taste of bipolar in 1993. He said it made him feel odd, dangerous.

He voluntarily committed himself after that for a 3-week stay. Thus began the heavy meds.

Mania became a regular thing. It hit him hard in 2005.

Another stay in a psych facility took place in 2015.

But Troy has been good ever since that stay. He keeps regular with meds but doesn’t feel they’re the only answer.

He’s big on personal responsibility and optimizing one’s meds.

Troy wrote a book about how he got bipolar under control called: Breaking Bipolar.

Here’s the site for the book: https://breakingbipolar.life

From Amazon:

Breaking Bipolar is an empowering self-help book with clear, detailed instructions on how to create a powerful battle plan to break the hold bipolar disorder has on your life and eliminate bipolar episodes for good.

After reading Breaking Bipolar, you will have the knowledge and skills to:

• Create your personal bipolar battle plan
• Eliminate bipolar episodes
• Optimize your medications
• Recognize symptoms of mania and depression
• Find a psychiatrist you trust
• For a support team
• Boost your mental and physical health
• Recover faster from a bipolar episode
• Deploy your bipolar legal rights if necessary
• Navigate psychiatric hospitals
• Win the war against bipolar disorder
• Make your dreams come true!

He delivered a secret at the end of the talk. Turns out he has his own publishing empire! (My words, not his.)

Here’s the site: Battle Press Publishing

Listen to the whole show. We really got cranking as we went along! I can’t wait to interview Steve again!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:38:03 — 134.7MB)

Show Notes:

Lynn Rae of MyJourneyBackToMyself.ca found me through LinkedIn. My replying to her kickstarted the whole “Interview” section of my podcasting life!

This was something I’d been planning on doing for many months.

I was hesitant, in part, due to the time and frustration involved in the transcription process for each episode.

Our talk was an hour and a half. I knew it would take me forever to finish the transcription for this episode.

So I worked on the transcription for two hours today and only reached the 17 minute mark in the audio.

This is how it’s been for me with these transcriptions. Drudgery, tedium, frustration, months of my life.

No more.

I’ve made a command decision to put transcriptions on hold, until I can pay for pros to do it.

The stress I’m enduring and the time I’m losing from creating more work, has made transcription cost prohibitive.

I’m already breathing better for this decision.

Funny thing, I talk a bit abut the importance of transcriptions in the intro to this episode. All true still.

But I think I was trying to motivate myself through an impossible event.

On to Lynn.

Very sweet woman who’s had her battles with bipolar but came out on top.

I enjoyed talking with her. I’ve already learned some things to improve my style. And I’ve figured out the answer to a tech issue that became obvious only after the interview.

Lynn’s Bio:

Lynn Rae was diagnosed with depression at age 30 and bipolar disorder at age 35. She has been living with these illnesses since 1991 and has had numerous hospitalizations.

Two psychiatrists told her at age 39 she would never work full time again. She has proven them wrong.

She has written two books. The “The F Book” aka “7 F’s to Creating Your Fantastic Future” teaches you how by incorporating these F’s will lead to a happier, healthier, more joy-filled life.

The other one is called “My Journey Back To Myself” which depicts her struggles and recovery from bipolar disorder.

As an Inspirational Speaker she shares with others her coping strategies in living with bipolar disorder and how she learned to be a productive member of society again and thrive despite the label she was given.

Lynn’s website MyJourneyBackToMyself.ca explains more of her story and provides a way to work professionally with her to achieve more and greater success in your life!

Lynn Rae makes her home in Newmarket, Ontario. In the summer she loves taking care of her vegetable garden and eating fresh from it every day.