Vicky Summers lives in Alberta, Canada.  She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and has worked as a child & adolescent mental health worker for a number of years.  Vicky has not only worked with mentally ill children and adolescents but also with parents with mental illness.  She has worked in schools, a mental health clinic, and in a child & adolescent psychiatry unit in a hospital.  She has also worked with older adolescents in an adult psychiatry unit.

Vicky has ADHD, Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Bipolar II.  As a child she was very bright but struggled in school.  She was a restless, hyperactive, rambunctious child who frustrated her fair share of teachers.  Vicky suffered from depression in early adolescence.  However the depression was more than likely part of her bipolar surfacing.  Vicky had a very difficult adolescence and always felt “lost”.  As her illness remained untreated it progressed into adulthood. Vicky went to university and somehow managed to achieve a degree in psychology.  It was a struggle for her as she was dealing with untreated mental illness!  It wasn’t until her early thirties that she complained about symptoms and her family doctor diagnosed her with dysthymia, a lingering type of depression.  She was given Paxil for her symptoms which helped temporarily but over time this medication was not enough.

Vicky is 47 yrs. old and was just recently diagnosed with Bipolar II.  She saw many psychiatrists over the years and had been previously diagnosed with Asperger’s disorder and High Functioning Autism.  It has been an extreme struggle for Vicky over the years and life still proves to be difficult for her at times.  However she is a survivor and is determined to continue to manage her illnesses as best as she can.  Vicky loves to write and engage in research, especially if the topic is on mental health.  Vicky hopes to help as many people as she can by being a researcher and a writer for askabipolar.com.