Welcome back to the savvy psychologist. I'm Dr. Ellen Hendrickson and every week I'll help you meet life's challenges with evidence-based research, a sympathetic ear, and zero judgment.

Today we have a special treat. We have with us, Gabe Howard, who is a fellow

podcast host. He hosts the Psych Central show, which is an award-winning

companion to the excellent mental health reference site, psych central.com.

Gabe is also an award-winning writer, speaker, and mental health advocate who lives with bipolar and anxiety disorders. And he has a lot of

valuable advice about this week's topic, which by request from an anonymous

listener is what is a loved one's role in helping a family member

with mental illness. So, Gabe Howard, welcome to the show.

Oh, thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it.

Absolutely. So for a long time I've been trying to figure out how to do a show on how best

to support a loved one who is suffering from mental illness.

And so this is a fantastic opportunity to do so.

So you're a mental health advocate.

Can you tell us just a Cliff Notes version of your story?

I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and anxiety disorders back in 2003,

and it took me completely by surprise.

I love to tell people that the day before I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder,

I believed every pop culture stereotype there was about mental illness, all mentally ill people were violent all mentally

ill people were rocking back and forth and drooling people with mental illness can't hold down jobs

I was not educated about this subject at all. So naturally I didn't

notice any of the symptoms in myself.

Luckily I did run into somebody who did understand the symptoms

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