Our journey began like so many others – our daughter was “different.” Initially, we didn’t really know why or how – we just knew she was “different.” We love so much of what makes her different – she’s creative and imaginative and passionate and loving and friendly and outgoing. Once she got to daycare it became apparent that some of her passion was over the top and at school she had trouble being part of the group and doing what everyone else was doing. We sought help everywhere we could and talked to doctors and psychologists and she had occupational therapy and physical therapy and by the time she was seven, our precious child had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. That was almost five years ago.

Bipolar disorder is a challenging illness for children whose moods cycle rapidly during the day. It’s hard for them to self-regulate and focus on tasks at school. Our daughter has been hospitalized and she has attended three schools. We have met with principals (more than we could count!), teachers, Board representatives at all levels and Trustees as well.

Through it all it has been a struggle to stay positive at times. It has been hard to stay together as a family but, so far we’re making it.

We started this web site because we don’t want anyone to feel alone. We also wanted to try and gather as much Canadian information as possible to help parents who are struggling with their own children’s mental health issues – whatever they are! We wanted a place for us to gather and exchange ideas and information. A place to find links and to figure out what the heck all the acronyms mean (there’s an over-abundance of acronyms in mental health!). If you want to share a story or an idea or a link – please let us know by clicking HERE. We will continue to update this site as time goes on and we’ll be adding interviews with professionals from a variety of disciplines about how to get help and where to find it!

We hope you come back and visit us often.

P.S. Our journey continues … our daughter continues to struggle but we are here beside her – helping her and advocating for her and other children like her!