Here are the internet websites where you can find me and/or my writing and other work:
- Echo’s Gardens Blog – Writing on many topics, crochet patterns
- About Bipolar Disorder (see below)
- HealthCentral Bipolar Disorder – Articles (Not creating any new content)
- Migraine.com – Migraine and Mental Health (Articles on mental illnesses and migraine) – Some of the articles listed are mine, but the only way to find out which ones they are is to select an article, go to the bottom and click on “View Written By.” (Needless to say, that doesn’t thrill me!)
- Echo’s WebMagic Free Graphics – Original graphics for homemade websites (needs revisions)
- Bipolar Disorder on Facebook (No longer moderating since I don’t work for About.com anymore, but I do visit occasionally and will be sharing my blogs that are related to bipolar, anxiety and depression)
- Prodigy Classic Roleplay Biographies (under reconstruction – most of these pages were made 15 years ago, when I was a newbie)
To repeat: I no longer work at HealthCentral.com or Migraine.com, but my articles remain online.
Warning:
About Bipolar Disorder and, indeed, About.com are no longer online under those names. Some of my articles are available at Verywellmind.com – unless the current owners change the name again (they’ve already done so twice). I cannot emphasize enough that I have no control over the content written by me at that site. Others may edit it without my knowledge or consent. Errors may be added. Content may become obsolete. I also believe that more than 50% of the content that was online at the time I was fired has now been removed.
Dear Marcia, Just want to thank you for your sites. Hope this is the correct email for reaching you. After reading your information and doing alot of thinking I have concluded my brother has been bipolar his entire life. Unfortunately he refuses to take any medicine (due to religious convictions) and is therefore in a nursing home where his wife put him.
Additionally I have concluded I have Bipolar 2 (or a bipolar of less manic episodes than my brother) and that most likely my father had the same problem as I. My conclusion is the bipolar is inherited from my father’s mother’s family. Doing ancestry research has uncovered many family secrets!
It is wonderful to have a handle on the bipolar in the family which gives me the strength to get through each day and understand myself. At 72 it is about time I have reached this point!
Again really wanted to reach out to thank you. Jacqui Le Clair
I have had over 100 yes over 100 ECT treatments. My first one was on my 25th birthday and I’ve had them all together and Maintenance. I have severe memory difficulties and I am now diagnosed with Schizoaffective Disorder, anxiety, Obsessive Compulsive, PTSD, borderline diabetic because I’m so fat, it’s fair to say I have several issues.
I wanted to tell you that I think you are doing a great job educating people!
Thank you so much for doing the Seroquel trial. That drug literally saved my husbands life 5 years ago. I am really enjoying reading your story thank you for making me feel like my husband and his struggles are not solitary.
Dear Marcia, I could not find an email address to write to you, so I am doing it here. I have Bipolar II. I cannot thank you enough for your About.com Bipolar Guide, which I am subscribed to! It is a miracle for me to read and learn about my condition. I have never found anything BETTER. I have a new psychiatrist now, but I used to go to a clinic to see a psychiatrist and G.P. They had me over-medicated for years and I’ve had every side effect that ever existed. It is amazing that I am still alive. I am 72.
In my 15-16 years of going to this clinic, I never learned anything about my condition and I was seeing counselors the whole time.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you TONS!
Blessings to you. Judith L. Chase
Hi Marcia,
I’m sorry to hear you have bipolar disorder as well as me but I’m grateful to you for sharing your experiences and carrying a message of hope. On your article on about.com re bad reasons to go off medication, I would just add from a logical and pragmatic angle I know you’re right but what about self determination? I have been following the doctors orders and struggling with side effects since age 17. I am tired of feeling like a guinea pig for various fad drugs. I think whether or not to take medication especially for us bipolar 2 folks should be a personal choice. You have an inside view to the disorder so for the most part that probably only adds to your insight but in another way, please remember that not everyone can tolerate mood stabilizers. It’s not a crime to have a mental illness so I think freedom of choice is important. Even if the outcomes related to medication noncompliance are poorer, who is to say that quantity of life is more important than perceived quality? Just having some mixed feelings about my care. Thank you for your thought provoking article and your work to help empower us.
Thanks for writing, Lori. My article 5 Bad Reasons Not to Take Meds doesn’t mention self-determination because that may not be a bad reason. I will say that unfortunately many people do stop taking their meds for this reason even when they should not – but I couldn’t make a blanket statement on this issue.
Marcia
I’m sorry to hear they are laying you off at about. You did a great job. Much success in all your ventures. The amount of comments you have on your pages already testify to how popular you are. You have the coolest house!
Be well.
Marcia, I’d like to thank you for keeping me focused and alive.
I was floundering before I discovered you and your experiences and I am desperately sad that you have lost the love of your life.
I am lucky enough to have an ex-husband (we divorced due to undiagnosed Bipolar). He is my carer and I am his – he’s twenty years older than me with cardiac problems – he also subscribed to your Bipolar blog and understands me and my moods.
Marcia, I will follow you and your new life on Echoes Gardens and Bipolar.
I wish you peace, happiness and love – you are the sister I never had.
Love Helen xxx
Marcia, I get many business and personal emails, but can honestly say as a “new” mother to this, you have been my enlightenment. I sure wish you the best to take sometime for you. You know what to do! And may I add, what medicine must constantly tweak, God can do in a week!
Hello Marcia,
I had not been at the bipolar.about.com website for over a year, and when I looked for you today I could not find you, and my heart sank. Thankfully, I found your blog. I just wanted to thank you for sharing your immense knowledge about bipolar disorder. When I finally surrendered and accepted the fact that I have a chronic brain disorder (BP I), and that in order to have a good shot of a life, I had to manage my illness, you were there with your articles, your wit, and humor that pulled me through the hard times. The support I received at the forum was amazing too. Does the forum still exist? Marcia, you have been a lifesaver for me for many years! I am sending you the biggest cyber hug ever! Thank you!
Thanks for your kind words, Frances. You’ve given my heart a big smile today.
The forum DOES still exist. Here’s the link: About Bipolar Disorder Main Forum.
All the best to you as you continue your journey.
Marcia