Iain Campbell

• Campbell has publicly said that he lives with Bipolar II disorder. He has described experiencing the condition since his teenage years and has said that his lived experience helped shape his decision to research bipolar disorder and metabolic psychiatry. [1]

• Campbell has described severe bipolar depression, including suicidal depression and profound physical exhaustion. He has said that at one point he did not think he would survive the condition much longer. [4]
• Campbell has also discussed hypomania as a state that can involve increased creativity, productivity, energy and confidence. Speaking from his own experience of Bipolar II disorder, he has said that he has benefited from elevated periods while distinguishing them from the more severe mania that can occur in Bipolar I disorder. [5]

• Campbell has said that he tried different treatments for bipolar disorder and experienced unwanted weight gain and metabolic problems while taking psychiatric medication. He later began a strict low-carbohydrate diet in an effort to lose weight and unknowingly entered ketosis. [3]
• After noticing an unexpected improvement in his symptoms, he began measuring his blood ketone levels and tracking them alongside his mood. He has described ketogenic metabolic therapy as producing a change in his symptoms unlike anything he had previously experienced. [1][3]

• Campbell has described substantial long-term improvement since beginning ketogenic metabolic therapy. He has said that the change enabled him to live what he considers a normal life, complete his PhD, become a researcher and have a family — outcomes he had previously considered almost impossible. [5]

• Campbell has spoken publicly about the stigma and professional risks associated with disclosing bipolar disorder. He has said that he chose to speak openly because he believed his experience might help other people with the condition. [5]
• He also brings his lived experience into his research while emphasizing that personal experience alone is not enough to establish a treatment's effectiveness and that controlled clinical research is needed. [5]

“It doesn’t feel like sadness when you’re in depression. It feels more like kind of oxygen deprivation. It’s a very physical state.”

— Iain Campbell [1]