Chris Federspiel

• Federspiel publicly identified himself as having bipolar II disorder in a 2018 essay titled Living with Bipolar 2. [1]
• In a 2023 interview, Federspiel said he was diagnosed with bipolar II disorder a couple of years after receiving treatment for depression during his later school years. [5]

• Federspiel has described pronounced shifts between elevated and depressed periods. In 2018, during what he called a “down cycle,” he wrote about losing interest in things, becoming more negative and withdrawn, having less patience, and experiencing unusually intense negative emotions. He said he cried alone for five days and that colleagues eventually noticed something was wrong. [1]
• In a 2023 interview, he described elevated periods as lasting a few days and depressive periods as lasting several weeks. He said that during elevated episodes he had sometimes made impulsive decisions and engaged in risky financial behaviour, while at other times irritability became severe enough that he would withdraw from work interactions to avoid lashing out at colleagues. [5]

• Federspiel has written that lamotrigine has been a long-term part of his treatment. In 2018, he said he had taken it for about 15 years, generally at a stable dose, and contacted his doctor when he felt it was no longer controlling a depressive period as effectively. His doctor recommended increasing the dose. [1]
• He has also described several routines he uses to support stability. In a later essay, Federspiel wrote that he avoids alcohol and drugs, exercises consistently, goes to bed early and tries to meditate regularly. He also said that he was taking a second medication in addition to lamotrigine, though he did not identify it. [6]

• Writing in 2023, Federspiel said that while building Blackthorn he had “come to better terms with my bipolar 2.” He described psychological stability as important to navigating difficult periods in both his personal life and his work. [7]

• Federspiel has used his own experience to speak openly about bipolar II disorder and mental-health stigma. When he published Living with Bipolar 2 in 2018, he acknowledged that doing so could affect his personal and professional life but said he believed helping others understand the experience was more important. He specifically challenged the idea that people with mental-health conditions can simply “think through it” or that their difficulties must be caused by an external event. [1]
• He has also discussed bipolar II disorder in the context of leadership, describing how greater awareness of his own reactions has influenced the way he manages employees and responds to mistakes at Blackthorn. [2]

“It’s extremely lonely to be in a down cycle and my hope is that others going through the same will benefit from finding this.”

— Chris Federspiel [1]