January 4th, 2010 
admin vvvFebruary 2010 will be the second annual Bipolar Disorder Awareness Month! Our goal is to reduce discrimination through awareness and education.
I need your help! You can help raise awareness in several ways:
Host a badge!
To increase the amount of participants and spread awareness, I am asking you to consider placing a Bipolar Disorder Awareness Month badge on your blog, website, or profile page of any social networking site. These badges will direct visitors to AllAboutBipolar.com, which is the host of Bipolar Disorder Awareness Month. Here, visitors can find information on how to spread awareness, find educational information about the disorder, and learn how it affects our everyday lives. Educating the general public is important and will help reduce discrimination by people who do not understand the illness.
You can find badges here: http://www.allaboutbipolar.com/bipolar-awareness/
Badges will be updated shortly and will continue to be updated throughout the year so you can show your support all year long. If you host a badge, please let me know so that I can list you as a participant.
I am also looking for someone to redesign the badges. If you’re interested, email me at support@allaboutbipolar.com.
Share your story!
Last year, participants shared their experiences by completing a short questionnaire. While useful, I would like to expand on that and allow people to share even more and give readers a better picture of how this illness affects them. If you have time and are willing to share your story, submit an essay of at least 250 words to support@allaboutbipolar.com. You can write about anything : your diagnosis, coping mechanisms, how it affects your day to day life, how it affects relationships…anything you feel will help others gain an understanding of what it is like to have bipolar disorder. I believe that educating the public with the specifics of the disorder just isn’t enough. We need them to see how we manage and cope to gain a true understanding of bipolar disorder. That’s why these essays are so important.
(Note: You can include your website address at the bottom.)
Provide educational materials!
We need writers who are willing to volunteer to compile fact sheets and informative materials to help educate others about bipolar disorder. It can be in any widely used format: Word document, PDF, eBook, etcetera. It would be very nice to have these materials available for download so visitors can find information quickly and easily. While AllAboutBipolar.com provides a wealth of information, it is a fairly large site and visitors may not be able to find the information they are looking for right away. Providing downloadable materials will help to ensure that they find needed information. Here are a few suggestions for materials:
Facts sheet: separate fact and fiction and dispel the myths
What is bipolar disorder?
Treatment options
Types of bipolar disorder
Symptoms of bipolar disorder
Bipolar Disorder Awareness Month needs YOU! Your participation is what makes it all possible. I am very grateful for all our participants in 2009 and look forward to many more this year.
If you would like to volunteer to help, email me at support@allaboutbipolar.com.
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