From Doctor to Writer, Natalie Dale Navigates Her Life With Bipolar Disorder Type 2

The Bipolar Battle hosted by Award-winning Mental Health Advocate and Published Author, John Poehler

Natalie Dale graduated Alpha-Omega-Alpha from the Chicago Medical School in 2016 and began her residency in Neurology at Oregon Health Sciences University. After struggling with Bipolar II Disorder, she decided to leave medicine and focus on her long-time passion: writing. Since then, she has written three novels and several short stories exploring the deeply personal experience of physical and mental illness. She also freelances, writing research essays, fact-checking, and translating academic articles for the layperson. In her spare time, she organizes an elementary school reading program, runs a local writing critique group, and plays violin in a community orchestra. She married her college sweetheart, dotes on her dog and cat, and lives in Hillsboro, Oregon.

1) Natalie, what is your background? My background is pretty mixed. I started out as a music major (violin performance) in college, before switching to a biochemistry major so that I could go to medical school. I took two years off between college and medical school. During that time, I worked in an infectious disease lab at the University of Washington, then I went to New Zealand on a scholarship from Rotary International. In New Zealand, I took classes in Public Health (earning my DPH, or Diploma in Public Health) and gave talks around Australia and New Zealand comparing healthcare systems. Once back in the US, I attended Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and science and graduated with honors before starting my neurology residency at Oregon Health Sciences University. I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder less than three months before graduation. I left OHSU in December 2017 due to my struggle with Bipolar II Disorder, and since then have been focusing on writing

2) Natalie, what projects are you working on? What are your goals for those projects? I like to do a lot of things at once. I find that this gives me the flexibility I need since my disease still isn’t fully controlled. I write short stories, nonfiction articles, and novels. But the project that is closest to my heart is my second novel, Pathétique.

Before I came up with a title, I called it the “Bipolar Violinist” story. It’s about Anna Zantic, a 30-year-old professional violinist who has recently landed her dream job with the Portland Philharmonic. But when side effects from her lithium start affecting her ability to read music, she turns to her mother for advice. Her mom – a concert pianist who has never accepted her daughter’s illness – convinces Anna to stop taking her meds. As you might expect, things go downhill from there. The book is all about breaking free of stigma, denial, and family expectations. It’s about acceptance and finding a way to embrace the changes that Bipolar can force down your throat. I started working on it while I was debating leaving residency. At the time, I was feeling the weight of failure quite keenly. The book started out as a way for me to work through these feelings, to come to some semblance of acceptance. But since it’s inception (and I’ve now gone through more than 30 drafts), it’s become a lot more.

Social media links:

Website: Nataliedaleauthor.com

Twitter: @dalenatalie

Facebook: natalie.grattan.9

Instagram: natalierose6627