The Upside of Bipolar: Conversations on the Road to Wellness

Michelle Baughman Reittinger
  • 5.0 (5)
  • MENTAL HEALTH
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Living with bipolar disorder sucks! Each week Michelle Reittinger and her guests explore tools and resources that help you learn how to live well with your bipolar. If you are tired of suffering and want to live a healthy, balanced, productive life with your bipolar, this podcast was designed with you in mind.

  1. FEB 3

    EP 78: From Incurable Disorder to Research-Based Healing

    Send us a message! I trace the path from blind trust in a chemical imbalance story to a research-based, integrated approach for resolving bipolar symptoms. I share the books, experts, tools, and daily practices that rebuilt stability through nutrition, trauma therapy, and mindfulness. • conditioning to trust credentials over outcomes • harms from long-term medication, hospitalization and ECT • turning points as a parent catalyzing responsibility • micronutrients as neurotransmitter building blocks • disease model versus drug model explained • Whitaker and Moncrieff are reshaping assumptions • therapy that targets trauma at the source • mindfulness to decode symptoms and reduce reactivity • building a Mood Cycle Survival Guide • reframing diagnosis as signals, not disease • practical steps to start self-led research If you have any comments or questions, please send me an email. If you haven't developed a Mood Cycle Survival Guide for yourself, make sure you go in the show notes, click on the on the link and get your free Mood Cycle Survival Guide that will start you on your first step to healing and recovery. FREE Mood Cycle Survival Guide: https://theupsideofbipolar.com/free/ The Upside of Bipolar: 7 Steps to Heal Your Disorder: @upsideofbipolar | Linktree website: https://theupsideofbipolar.com/ email: michelle@theupsideofbipolar.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theupsideofbipolar/ TikTok: theupsideofbipolar (@theupsideofbipolar) | TikTok Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theupsideofbipolar/

    35 min

  2. JAN 26

    EP 77: Choose Healing Over Victimhood: Reframing Bipolar Symptoms

    Send us a message! I challenge the idea that a bipolar label defines a life and show how reframing symptoms creates room for choice, tools, and repair. I share a practical survival guide, language shifts, and boundary skills that turn chaos into traction. • labels built on symptom clusters create helplessness • medication roulette, side effects, and why talk therapy often stalls • rage and dissociation explained as fight or flight • family strain, codependency, and children’s regulation needs • choose responsibility after crisis and hospitalizations • build a response team with clear roles and limits • design early warning systems to spot triggers • power priorities and daily reboot practices • use precise language: symptoms as information • become a detective of your story and sources • set healthy boundaries to protect trust and repair relationships • choose your hard and commit to sustained change If you're ready to heal and you want to know more about the Upsiders' Tribe make sure you send me an email, linked down below, and you can set up a 30-minute complimentary Zoom where we can talk about your specific situation, and we can determine if the Upsiders' Tribe is a good fit for you. FREE Mood Cycle Survival Guide: https://theupsideofbipolar.com/free/ The Upside of Bipolar: 7 Steps to Heal Your Disorder: @upsideofbipolar | Linktree website: https://theupsideofbipolar.com/ email: michelle@theupsideofbipolar.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theupsideofbipolar/ TikTok: theupsideofbipolar (@theupsideofbipolar) | TikTok Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theupsideofbipolar/

    41 min

  3. JAN 16

    EP 76: From Diagnosis to Self-Awareness: How Yoga Supports Bipolar Recovery with Dr. Ghada Osman

    Send us a message! We explore how yoga shifts healing from labels and behavior control to embodied awareness, and how grounding builds real emotional regulation for bipolar symptoms and trauma. Dr. Ghada Osman shares her three-prong model so listeners can ground first, then safely energize or calm. • mental health labels versus emotional health signals • witness consciousness and bottom-up healing • shame cycles, unmet needs and compassionate curiosity • practical grounding: eyes open, even breath, bilateral movement • how to choose energizing or calming after grounding • honoring the body without judgment or “levels” • seasons, contrast and building resilience • resources to learn more from Dr. Osman Website: www.ghadaosman.com Book on Routledge: Mental and Emotional Healing Through Yoga: A Guiding Framework for Therapists and their Clients Book on Amazon: Mental and Emotional Healing Through Yoga: A Guiding Framework for Therapists and their Clients Check out Ghada's online training on using yoga to work with mental health here: Yoga for Mental Health Certification Course FREE Mood Cycle Survival Guide: https://theupsideofbipolar.com/free/ The Upside of Bipolar: 7 Steps to Heal Your Disorder: @upsideofbipolar | Linktree website: https://theupsideofbipolar.com/ email: michelle@theupsideofbipolar.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theupsideofbipolar/ TikTok: theupsideofbipolar (@theupsideofbipolar) | TikTok Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theupsideofbipolar/

    1h 2m

  4. JAN 9

    EP 75: A Practical Path To Bipolar Recovery This Year

    Send us a message! I share a practical plan to turn New Year hope into steady recovery by choosing one habit, building agency, and treating sources of symptoms rather than endlessly managing them. I outline seven habits for healing, from mood tracking and nutrition to therapy, mindfulness, yoga, exercise, and mindful living. • healing as a long-term process built on one change  • shifting from victim mindset to personal agency  • mood cycle survival guide and early warning signs  • micronutrients as fuel for brain function  • therapy as a facilitator for resolving sources  • mindfulness to regain control of thoughts and body  • yoga to reintegrate mind and body  • exercise for stability, not intensity  • living mindfully with weekly reviews and a clear why  • invitation to pick one habit and start now Join the Mood Cycle Survival Guide. It’s free. Check in with us in the Upsiders' Basecamp chat for advice. If you’re ready to heal your symptoms, join my monthly membership, The Upsiders' Tribe, to transform chaos into hope. For more resources, visit www.theupsideofbipolar.com. Grab my book, The Upside of Bipolar: Seven Steps to Heal Your Disorder. FREE Mood Cycle Survival Guide: https://theupsideofbipolar.com/free/ The Upside of Bipolar: 7 Steps to Heal Your Disorder: @upsideofbipolar | Linktree website: https://theupsideofbipolar.com/ email: michelle@theupsideofbipolar.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theupsideofbipolar/ TikTok: theupsideofbipolar (@theupsideofbipolar) | TikTok Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theupsideofbipolar/

    37 min

  5. 12/19/2025

    EP 74: Faith And Bipolar Recovery

    Send us a message! I share how faith and action led from despair and repeated hospital stays to a practical path for recovery. The story moves from early experiences of God’s love to a step-by-step survival guide, therapy, micronutrients, and an open invitation to choose agency today. • the role of faith as a source of hope and direction • the moment a clear thought interrupted suicidal despair • why healing came through steps, not an instant cure • building a mood cycle survival guide • response team, early warnings, power priorities, system reboot • boundaries that respect helpers and protect family • micronutrients from a nonprofit and why they mattered • therapy reboot with EMDR and proactive tools • addressing religious trauma and doubts about spiritual impressions • shifting from diagnosis identity to personal agency • practical invitations to act and record moments of peace For more resources, visit www.theupsideofbipolar.com FREE Mood Cycle Survival Guide: https://theupsideofbipolar.com/free/ The Upside of Bipolar: 7 Steps to Heal Your Disorder: @upsideofbipolar | Linktree website: https://theupsideofbipolar.com/ email: michelle@theupsideofbipolar.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theupsideofbipolar/ TikTok: theupsideofbipolar (@theupsideofbipolar) | TikTok Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theupsideofbipolar/

    37 min

  6. 12/11/2025

    EP 73: From Labels to Healing: How Diagnosis Can Block Recovery

    Send us a message! I challenge the idea that a bipolar diagnosis explains your life and show how labels can block curiosity, fuel victimhood, and fuse to identity. I explore the layered tools that helped me heal: micronutrients, trauma work, mindfulness, and a Mood Cycle Survival Guide. • diagnosis as observation, not explanation • relief and fear at first diagnosis • victimhood mindset and its costs • when labels become identity • accountability after harm and repair work • layered healing: micronutrients, therapy, mindfulness • the fire alarm versus the fire • incentives in pharma and training • switch language from disorder to symptoms • becoming a detective of symptom sources • practical tools: sleep, tracking, cues, supplements • resources: prior episodes, book, Upsiders Tribe Join the Upsiders' Tribe. If you want to talk to me about it, here is the →link← that will allow you to set up a free consultation with me. Make sure that you reach out. For more resources, visit www.theupsideofbipolar.com. If you haven't read my book, click here to grab a copy. FREE Mood Cycle Survival Guide: https://theupsideofbipolar.com/free/ The Upside of Bipolar: 7 Steps to Heal Your Disorder: @upsideofbipolar | Linktree website: https://theupsideofbipolar.com/ email: michelle@theupsideofbipolar.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theupsideofbipolar/ TikTok: theupsideofbipolar (@theupsideofbipolar) | TikTok Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theupsideofbipolar/

    39 min

  7. 11/19/2025

    EP 72: Micronutrients, Medication Tapers, And Real Recovery with David Stephan, VP of Truehope

    Send us a message! In this engaging third conversation with David Stephan, we unpack why symptom spikes during micronutrient use often signal overmedication, not relapse, and how to time reductions for smoother tapers. We share stories, protocols, and tools that make withdrawal safer while building real, durable stability. • intake essentials and complete disclosure of meds and supplements • medication potentiation explained and how to spot it • custom reductions for SSRIs, benzos, stimulants, antipsychotics • tracking patterns and using plateaus to time cuts • med releases from stress or intense exercise and safe responses • why to avoid liver cleanses and how whey protein isolate and aminos help • gut health, candida protocol, and absorption basics • four pillars: vitamins, minerals, amino acids, omega-3s • using RXList to understand med release symptoms • consistency tools: organizers, alarms, spacing doses • faster vs safer taper styles and realistic timelines • trust, patience, and compliance as success drivers • resources, independent research, and support coaching Link: Truehope Canada | Media & Publications Bio: Over the past 22 years, David Stephan has worked extensively with Truehope, an organization on a mission to help individuals overcome mental illness through the use of groundbreaking micronutrient solutions. During this time, he has been involved in leading edge discoveries that have not only provided significant transformation in thousands of lives but have also been scientifically validated in dozens of independent studies from universities around the world. As such, David feels it a privilege and duty to share the knowledge that not only changed his life, but has also allowed for well over 100,000 others to transform their lives as well.  For more resources, visit www.theupsideofbipolar.com. If you're ready to dive deeper, grab my book, The Upside of Bipolar: 7 Steps to Heal Your Disorder. If you're ready to heal your symptoms, join my monthly membership, The Upsiders' Tribe, to transform chaos into hope. FREE Mood Cycle Survival Guide: https://theupsideofbipolar.com/free/ The Upside of Bipolar: 7 Steps to Heal Your Disorder: @upsideofbipolar | Linktree website: https://theupsideofbipolar.com/ email: michelle@theupsideofbipolar.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theupsideofbipolar/ TikTok: theupsideofbipolar (@theupsideofbipolar) | TikTok Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theupsideofbipolar/

    1h 36m

  8. 11/10/2025

    EP 71: How Micronutrients Rewire Your Brain with David Stephen, VP of Truehope

    Send us a message! What if the brain isn’t broken—but under-supplied? This episode continues the conversation with David Stephan, VP of Truehope, as we dive into the specifics of how vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and omegas provided in bioavailable, balanced forms, help the brain recover. In this conversation we talk about: The difference between the function of drugs and micronutrients on the brainHow micronutrients actually help resolve bipolar symptoms, including serious symptoms like psychosis.Why eating healthy is not enough to resolve bipolar symptoms and why micronutrient  supplementation is necessary.The role that genetics play in bipolar symptoms.How micronutrients can help resolve the MTHFR gene mutation.How the vast majority of mental illness diagnoses are actually micronutrient deficiencies.How micronutrients help facilitate healing trauma and other sources of mental illness symptoms.Come back next week as we dig into what to expect when shifting from medications to micronutrients and how to navigate symptoms with confidence. Link: Truehope Canada | Media & Publications Bio: Over the past 22 years, David Stephan has worked extensively with Truehope, an organization on a mission to help individuals overcome mental illness through the use of groundbreaking micronutrient solutions. During this time, he has been involved in leading edge discoveries that have not only provided significant transformation in thousands of lives but have also been scientifically validated in dozens of independent studies from universities around the world. As such, David feels it a privilege and duty to share the knowledge that not only changed his life, but has also allowed for well over 100,000 others to transform their lives as well.  FREE Mood Cycle Survival Guide: https://theupsideofbipolar.com/free/ The Upside of Bipolar: 7 Steps to Heal Your Disorder: @upsideofbipolar | Linktree website: https://theupsideofbipolar.com/ email: michelle@theupsideofbipolar.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theupsideofbipolar/ TikTok: theupsideofbipolar (@theupsideofbipolar) | TikTok Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theupsideofbipolar/

    1h 12m
See All (79)

Trailer

5
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

Living with bipolar disorder sucks! Each week Michelle Reittinger and her guests explore tools and resources that help you learn how to live well with your bipolar. If you are tired of suffering and want to live a healthy, balanced, productive life with your bipolar, this podcast was designed with you in mind.

Information