James Le Bas

Doctor

Australia

Bipolar I disorderSelf-disclosed [1]

James Le Bas is a retired psychiatrist and Adjunct Senior Lecturer in psychiatry at Monash University who spent much of his career working in community mental health. He is the author of Beyond Bipolar: Ancient Realms, New Directions, which combines memoir, psychiatric research and his perspective as both a psychiatrist and a person with bipolar disorder. [2][3]

Last updated September 15, 2026

Career and work

Le Bas worked for many years as a psychiatrist in community mental-health services. In 2009, he was Director of Community Mental Health at Peninsula Health in Victoria, and he later served there as a consultant psychiatrist while holding an academic appointment at Monash University. [3][4]

Alongside his clinical work, Le Bas published on bipolar disorder and models of emotion, including papers on prestige and bipolarity and affective illness. After retiring from clinical psychiatry, he remained an Adjunct Senior Lecturer in psychiatry at Monash University. He also wrote Beyond Bipolar: Ancient Realms, New Directions, which draws together his clinical experience, academic ideas and personal perspective. [3][4][5][2]

What has been publicly discussed

“I am writing my truth in the hope that it contributes to a greater truth.”
— James Le Bas [2]

The following sources contain information that supports the claims made in this profile.

James Le Bas“On Bipolar Classification”
Le Bas explicitly identifies himself as having bipolar I disorder.
Monash University“When the doctor becomes the patient: Dr James Le Bas shares his story”
Covers Le Bas’s career, book, lived experience, advocacy and views on clinician disclosure and psychiatric education.
PubMed“Emotion modelling towards affective pathogenesis”
Documents Le Bas’s role as Director of Community Mental Health at Peninsula Health and Adjunct Senior Lecturer at Monash University.
PubMed“Prestige and bipolarity”
Documents Le Bas’s work as a consultant psychiatrist and academic work on bipolar disorder.
PubMed“The prestige model of spectrum bipolarity”
Further documents Le Bas’s published academic work on bipolar disorder.
RANZCP Psych Matters“Tangled up in Blue: a psychiatrist’s journey with lived experience”
Interview covering hospitalization, psychosis, depression, mania, stigma and professional identity.
James Le Bas“A Christmas Carol”
First-person account covering psychosis, depression, medication changes and psychiatric treatment.
SourceJames Le Bas — first-person post on disclosure and treatment
Covers disclosure, long-term stability, treatment adherence and side effects.
Beyond BipolarJames Le Bas — official biography
Supports his statement that he worked for more than forty years before retiring from clinical work.

Recommended books and other resources about James Le Bas and lived experience.

Bipolar Talk“Unify, Not Divide: A New Model of Bipolarity with Dr James Le Bas”
Later interview with Le Bas about bipolar disorder and his ideas about its classification.

Continue exploring

View all