134. Bipolar Unplugged: Mania & Finding Your Voice with Nikki Rae134. Bipolar Unplugged: Mania & Finding Your Voice with Nikki Rae
Together S.O.B.E.R.
Louise Barnett sits down with Nikki Rae Unplugged to talk about bipolar I, mania, mixed episodes, trauma, ADHD and motherhood, all shared with dark humour and brutal honesty. The conversation touches on medication, content creation and writing as ways to move from secrecy and shame towards acceptance and self-expression.
51:26•28 Sept 2026
Bipolar Unplugged: Mania, Identity and Finding Your Voice with Nikki Rae
Episode Overview
- Acknowledging suicidal thoughts and seeking professional help can be life-saving for people with bipolar.
- Medication stabilises mood but does not erase bipolar, so ongoing self-awareness and support are crucial.
- Talking openly to children about big emotions and starting therapy early can reduce future harm.
- Writing and sharing your story, even privately, helps chip away at shame and supports acceptance.
- Dropping the mask and owning your identity attracts the right people and reduces internal conflict.
“I didn't want to accept that I could have something that I would never get rid of.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety and bipolar recovery? This conversation between host Louise Barnett and guest Nikki Rae Unplugged (Nikki Olson) takes you straight into the messy, honest reality of living with bipolar I, parenting, and trying to make sense of life one episode at a time.
Nikki shares how her first major manic episode at 32 followed a painful breakup and a sudden decision to buy a dirt bike, kicking off years of intense highs and lows that were only later recognised as bipolar.
She describes the shock of having a friend gently say she might be "the epitome" of bipolar and the terror of realising, "I didn't want to accept that I could have something that I would never get rid of." From there, the chat moves into suicidal thinking, the choice between hospitalisation and seeing a psychiatrist, and the slow, frustrating wait for mood stabilisers to work.
You’ll hear Nikki talk about mixed episodes, ADHD, self-harm as a young teen, and how trauma triggered a genetic predisposition to bipolar. She’s frank about alcohol as a chemical trigger, her love of adrenaline and danger during mania, and the bizarre reality of "bipolar blinders" in relationships, where someone can seem perfect one week and utterly wrong the next.
A big part of the episode focuses on Nikki’s raw content creation on TikTok and Instagram, where crying-in-the-car videos and dark humour about mania help people feel less alone. She and Louise swap experiences of therapy, parenting sensitive kids, and reframing ADHD and big emotions as "superpowers" that need tools, not shame.
At the heart of it all is Nikki’s message about identity: stop masking, own who you are, and use writing or sharing in whatever way feels safe to chip away at shame. If you’re living with bipolar, loving someone who is, or juggling sobriety with mental health, what part of your story are you finally ready to stop hiding?
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