Liz Casper
DoctorArtist
AuthorUnited States
Liz Casper is a former doctor who has also worked as an artist and writer. She is the author of Brilliant, Beautiful, Bipolar and Learning to Heal, autobiographical books drawing respectively on her experience as a psychiatric patient and on her medical training and career. [1][2]
Career and work
Casper trained as a doctor, completing medical school and residency before working in private practice. She has described herself as a fourth-generation doctor and the first woman in her family to enter the profession. [3][2]
After leaving medicine, Casper pursued work as an artist and writer. She published Brilliant, Beautiful, Bipolar, an autobiographical account of her experience with bipolar disorder, followed by Learning to Heal, which reflects on medical school, residency, private practice and her own experience as a patient. [1][2]
What has been publicly discussed
- Casper has publicly identified herself as having bipolar disorder. She has written that she initially rejected the diagnosis and only came to accept it after the consequences of her illness became increasingly difficult to ignore. [4][1]
- Her diagnosis became a central subject of her autobiographical book Brilliant, Beautiful, Bipolar, in which she describes her life before, during and after being diagnosed and treated. [4][2]
- Casper has described years of depression and seasonal changes in mood before experiencing a prolonged period of mania later in life. In a 2026 interview, she said that major losses and the end of a relationship preceded an approximately 18-month manic episode. [5]
- She has also described the consequences of that episode as severe, including time in psychiatric wards and jail and significant disruption to her life. Her memoir portrays the manic period as initially accompanied by unusually high energy and a sense of possibility, before the consequences became increasingly destructive. [2][5]
- Casper has written that she is stable on medication and that it keeps her “alive and on an even keel.” [6]
- Casper’s official biography describes her experience as one of “living with and healing from” bipolar disorder. [1]
- Casper has argued that the distinction between mental and medical illness is artificial and that how mental-health conditions are regarded, cared for and treated within healthcare needs to change. [2]
“My wish is that you will gain an understanding of the world of someone suffering from unmedicated and medicated bipolar disorder.”
— Liz Casper [6]
Sources and other resourcesExpand to view the sources used in this profile and resources to learn more.
Sources used for this profile
The following sources contain information that supports the claims made on this page.
Official websiteLiz Casper Provides Casper’s biography and identifies her as an artist, writer, former doctor and person living with bipolar disorder.
Liz Casper“About the Books” Covers Brilliant, Beautiful, Bipolar, Learning to Heal, Casper’s medical career and her perspective on mental-health care.
Rick Flynn PresentsLiz Casper interview Covers Casper’s background as a fourth-generation doctor and the first woman in her family to enter medicine.
View all 6 sources
Google BooksBrilliant, Beautiful, Bipolar Publisher material covering Casper’s diagnosis, initial rejection of it and the subject of her memoir.
Own Your Essence“Beyond The Diagnosis: Awakening Through Adversity With Liz Casper” Interview covering depression, seasonal mood changes, prolonged mania, psychiatric hospitalization and jail.
EverandBrilliant, Beautiful, Bipolar Preview of Casper’s memoir containing her first-person discussion of medication, stability and her reasons for writing the book.
Learn more
Recommended books and other resources about Liz Casper and their experiences.