Hi and welcome to my blog “Shedding Light on Mental Health.” My name is Amy Gamble and I am a National Award winning Mental Health Advocate focused on educating others about Mental Health related challenges.
I live with bipolar disorder and PTSD. My journey has been been very long and difficult, but I was able to overcome my mental health challenges and recover.
I’m a Certified Personal Medicine Coach who helps people on their recovery journey from various mental health conditions.
I’ve taught hundreds of hours of Mental Health First Aid and have given over 250 talks and trainings about mental health.
I try to offer hope in my blogs as well as share insights.
I hope you find it helpful.
If you’d like to contact me, please use the contact form on the menu option.
Amy Gamble
Olympian – Author – Speaker
Hello, Amy! The aim of your blog is wonderful. I’ve also been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and want to lessen the negative stigma about it and other mental illnesses.
By the way, I also love dogs. I have a black lab named Riley and a rottweiler named Zeus. They’re vital in my recovering process.
– Deirdre
Hi Deirdre,
Thanks for your kind words. I had a black lab that lived until she was 16. She was my “service dog” at least unofficially. Thanks again for your comment.
Amy
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you Benjy. Best of luck to you in school! Amy
Thanks for sharing Amy. I can certainly relate to your subject. I’m struggling to be comfortable with changing my old goals and high expectations that I had for myself before the diagnosis. Could it be related to the aging process and reflections of the past? I’m working on it. Thanks again. You are such a beautiful writer.
I am unfamiliar with WordPress (I use BlogSpot), is there a way to sign up for an e-mail notification whenever you post? I would very much like to continue to read and share your words, but I am always on the go.
I just added a “follow” button under the Blog for Mental Health 2014 badge. If you click on the follow button you’ll receive email notifications when I post something new. Thanks for your interest.
Amy, your words are very inspiring and so well written. They help me out a lot….from one who has shared many of the experiences after being diagnosed with bipolar illness. Thanks Amy
Sherry, Thanks for your kind words. I know you understand the struggle. Take care.
I want to say a belated “thank you” to you for following “A Way With Words.” My joy in writing is made more complete when people read what I’ve written.
While I write primarily about faith and mental illness, I’m known to dabble in other subjects and stories and even try my hand at the odd poem. If you have any requests, please let me know.
I appreciate what you are doing here on your blog, sharing your own journey of recovery and fostering dialogue about mental illness. I look forward to reading more of your work and perhaps conversing further in the days ahead.
Hi and thanks for your comments. I enjoy reading your blog and I am glad you are taking the time to follow mine. I read and research a great deal so I am planning to incorporate the knowledge I gain and bring it to my posts. I look forward to interacting with you. Once again, thanks for taking the time to comment.
Hi Amy,
I have just seen a post of yours on the community pool and i thought i would post on here as opposed to commenting on your post. I think that the work you are doing on here is wonderful and I, like many others out there, wish for the stigma surrounding mental illness to be dropped. I have suffered in the past year with various issues surrounding my mental health and your blog has been really really interesting to read. Even though my blog isn’t directed toward mental health i do tend to talk about issues surrounding my generation and society at the moment- which mental health definitely falls into. I really look forward to following your blog in the future- its great!!
Best Wishes,
Lilli
Lilli,
Thanks so much for taking the time to read my blog and post your comments. I really believe if we continue to talk about and discuss mental health we will help others understand better and that understanding will in turn help us eliminate stigma. I am so happy you found my blog to be of some value. I hope I can continue to improve and make a difference. Thanks again.
Amy
I understand your objective is to help anyone with such problem. Perhaps I see mostly everyone has some kind of depression/sadness in life and very few are good and mentally fit. regards.
My objective is to continue the conversation about mental illness so we can work on a better understanding of these illnesses and we can eliminate the stigma surrounding mental illness. In a day where people really understand depression they would know the difference between just a little sadness and the debilitating symptoms depression can have, like not being able to get out of bed. One day people will understand how difficult it is to live with a mental illness and they will also understand it is not the person’s fault who gets diagnosed.
thank you for writing this. It takes courage to admit the problems in life. I am hoping to do the same for mine through blogging and sharing. Thanks!
Thanks for your comment and support. It was a challenge to speak openly at first but now I find it very empowering. I wish you the best with your blog.
Hey Amy. Thanks for following my blog. I really wish you all the best in your struggle. I also suffer from Bipolar disorder and always look for more people to share the experience with. Wish u all the best
Hi Zephyr,
Thanks for your message! Keep up the good fight against BP!
Regards,
Amy
You are such an inspiration! Thank you for this amazing blog!
Thanks Anna.
Thanks for sharing this us. I really do admire your strength. I’m excited to read more posts from you!
Phoenix42013,
Thanks for your kind comments!
Thanks for the follow, I look forward to reading more of your blog!
Thanks Lady K for stopping by my blog.
Hi Amy. Thanks for stopping by counselorssoapbox and for the follow.
David–you are welcome!
Thank goodness for OM allowing guest bloggers! I too started blogging as a way to help me understand my wife’s bi-polar disorder. I look forward to reading more of your posts and perhaps continue to understand my wife’s mental health challenges even better!
Take care – Vic
https://justplainolvic.wordpress.com/
Hi Amy,
My name is Anuj Agarwal. I’m Founder of Feedspot.
I would like to personally congratulate you as your blog Shedding Light on Mental Illness – The Triumphs And Struggles Of Living With Bipolar Disorder has been selected by our panelist as one of the Top 100 Bipolar Disorder Blogs on the web.
http://blog.feedspot.com/bipolar_disorder_blogs/
I personally give you a high-five and want to thank you for your contribution to this world. This is the most comprehensive list of Top 100 Bipolar Disorder Blogs on the internet and I’m honored to have you as part of this!
Also, you have the honor of displaying the badge on your blog.
Best,
Anuj
Thank you! Very awesome!
“I learned how to manage it so it doesn’t manage me.”
This! A thousand times THIS!
Really looking forward to reading your blog! Super stoked I found it! <3 -LB
Thanks for reading and following!
Good stuff Amy! My odyssey also began by doing google searches and finding very little. I’ve educated myself extensively since that time and look for ways to help others with BP. Thanks for the shares!
Thank you! Life is much more pleasant since I’ve learned how to manage bipolar disorder. Keep up the good fight!