I have not had any medical or any form of therapeutic training, so I will not give advice on this topic. But I can bring in my own experiences, through which I have learned a lot. I am very fortunate to be physically and mentally healthy. I am grateful for this every day, because it cannot be taken for granted.

So far, I have had almost no serious physical illnesses in my life. But I went through severe depressive phases and had several inpatient stays in a psychiatric ward, the first in 1998 and hopefully the last in 2019, each for about three months.

A neurologist diagnosed me with bipolar disorder about 30 years ago, which I never wanted to believe, but this diagnosis has been in the air ever since. The fact is that I had depressive phases of three to six months and years in between when I felt good. In my opinion, the only indication of bipolar disorder is that I have phases of several weeks in which I sleep very little, get up around 3 a.m. and am very active. Now that I’m writing these sentences, it’s about 4 o’clock. At the moment, this phase has already lasted about four weeks. At some point, this will normalize without me having to intervene with medication.

This time it probably has to do with the fact that I am approaching this website project with great enthusiasm. I think that’s one of the most important things I’ve done in life. And I’ll do well, I’m convinced of that.

Many physical illnesses (not all!) have mental causes. I am not a trained therapist or coach, but I have a lot of experience through my own story that I can pass on.

As a teenager, I had inferiority complexes because I was so quiet while my friends had something to say on every topic. In today’s world, social media play an important role and often put your finger in the wound with adolescents: You are too fat, too thin, too small, too tall, too ugly, too stupid, … How is a young person supposed to develop self-confidence under these circumstances?

At some point in the course of my life, I started to focus on my strengths, to respect and love myself. It was a long way, but I made it and thank God for it every day.My diary, in which I write my thoughts, is an important help to me, even more so today than before.

I offer you to contact me if you would like to exchange ideas with me about mental health topics that are not intended for the public.

Here at this point you are welcome to open up as much as you want and share your own experiences.