Finding balance in bipolar

Ellen Forney is a passionate storyteller and artist who turned her bipolar diagnosis into a platform of hope for anyone struggling with mental health issues. In this moving and generous talk, Ellen uses both words and pictures — her own comics —to share the story of how she maintained her creativity while managing her illness and shares the system she developed for achieving balance and keeping it. Special thanks to core the TEDxSeattle organizing team, 100+ volunteers, and our generous partners – without you, this experience would not be possible. Find out more about our talks, speakers, entertainers, activities, and year-round events at TEDxSeattle.com. In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TED Talks video and live speakers combine to spark in-depth discussion and connection in a community setting. These events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. Ellen is an artist, teacher, and mental health advocate. She is the author of the New York Times bestselling graphic memoir, Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, & Me, the story of her diagnosis and struggle with bipolar disorder, and Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice from My Bipolar Life, a guide to maintaining mental health. Rock Steady was featured in the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA)’s “Best of Graphic Medicine 2018”, and the book’s self-care framework is widely used by therapists and clinicians. Ellen also curated the National Library of Medicine’s traveling exhibition on Graphic Medicine, a new genre of comics about health. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx