Mental Health Awareness Month, observed every May, is meant to be a time for shame-free discussion and stigma-free education about mental illness. In that spirit, here's an essay from a business founder about living with bipolar disorder while raising kids and running a company.
The moment I became a mother was equally the most wonderful and terrifying time of my life. In those precious first minutes of Olive's life on the outside, my heart grew tenfold, and my brain nearly exploded with an overwhelming sense of responsibility for her every basic need and happiness.
Like many new mothers, I was filled with anxiety, constantly worrying if she was getting enough milk, if she was sleeping enough, if she was sleeping too much (this worry didn't last long), if I was burping her correctly, if the swaddle was too tight, if she was gaining enough weight. This list was endless.
But on top of all the "normal" worries, I was besieged by another set of fears, fears of my potential shortcomings associated with being a person living with bipolar disorder.
Officially diagnosed at age 27, after many years of therapy and failed treatments for the wrong thing, I waited over five years to grasp my illness before becoming a mother. Not to suggest there's any "set" amount of time to wrap your brain around something out of your control. There isn't.
But once I did become a mother, I knew that letting our perfect little being down was not an option, and I was determined to develop a set of coping skills to go above and beyond my medication routine, a routine that wasn't bump- or breastfeeding-friendly the whole way through. Basically, I had to make my bipolar my bitch.
To keep it simple and manageable, I started with five basic rules to make sure I was taking care of myself so I could take the best care of her. Maybe they'll help you too.
Rule 1: Ask for Help (And Surround Yourself With People Willing to Help When You Ask)
Don't even think about not asking for help. In most cases, ask for help before you even need it. If my personal experience with mental illness has taught me anything, it's that by the time you actually need the help, it can already be too late.
Tell your partner, if you have one, as I did, specifically what you need from them. Maybe you outsource tasks like bath time, diaper duty, or bottle washing to give yourself a moment to catch your breath.
As baby becomes less baby and more full-on child, a history of delegating specific responsibilities to others means you're not doing all the heavy lifting, which gives you more time to find balance and fewer moments of feeling so overwhelmed you forget how to function.
Rule 2: Get Your Zzz’s
Every mom is sleep-deprived, but if you're living with a mental illness, especially one like bipolar disorder, you cannot neglect your sleep. Sleep functions almost like medication in its own right. Communicate with your family and everyone in your "village" so they understand why it matters and help keep you in check. As mothers, we often neglect our basic needs, or feel guilty for even having them, but if we want to show up for our kids, we have to take proper care of ourselves too.
Rule 3: Take a Bubble Bath
When your world is spinning out, and you can't stop your brain from going down a rabbit hole, run a hot bath, load it up with calming, good-smelling stuff, and soak.
You'll be amazed at how 10 to 15 minutes can reset you to your best self. Or at least your better self.
Rule 4: Forgive Yourself
I can't speak to exactly what you'll beat yourself up for as a mother, but it's likely you will.
For me, it was baby food. I didn't make it from scratch, and in a pinch, I didn't even buy organic. I know, gasp, right? For some reason, this left me feeling like a complete failure, when the reality is that if your child is fed and healthy, you're doing great as a mom.
I let the baby food thing go, along with a lot of other small, often trivial things, and became a much happier person. I also made the conscious decision that my life wasn't going to look like a Pinterest board, and my kids haven't suffered for it. The pressure for perfection is real, and it's ridiculous.
Rule 5: Hone Your Coping Skills
When my therapist introduced cognitive therapy to me, I actually laughed out loud. As if floating my "bad thoughts" down a "make-believe" river would really help. Guess what? It did.
It took practice, but developing a real set of coping skills is critical. Maybe the river thing won't work for you, but maybe it's meditation, or prayer, or yoga, or some combination of all of the above.
Give yourself the time to handle the situations that are more challenging when you're balancing motherhood and mental illness. Put it on your to-do list if you have to. But do it. For you. For your kids.
Years and another baby later, I can honestly say I'm still a work in progress. My journey into motherhood with a mental illness is a continuous one, filled with ups and downs, mistakes and corrections.
I'm learning the importance of speaking my truth and walking my walk openly. From my experience, there's no other way to thrive and survive this magical, difficult phase of life.
Morgan Hutchinson is the founder of fashion retail site BURU and the mother of two kids. Her memoir, Bipolar Blonde, releases October 20, 2026.
If you're navigating bipolar disorder alongside pregnancy, postpartum, or parenting, the MGH Center for Women's Mental Health's resource hub is a good place to start.
