David Shamszad

• Shamszad has publicly identified himself as having bipolar disorder. He has said that he was diagnosed in his early twenties after episodes of mania and depression culminated in a psychiatric hospitalization. [1]
• He has described initially hiding the diagnosis because he feared how others would judge him and said that he avoided fully accepting it for years before becoming more open about his experience. [1]

• Shamszad has described severe swings between mania and depression beginning in his early twenties. He said manic periods could become reckless and dangerous, while depressive periods left him feeling profoundly hopeless. [1]
• He has also described psychiatric hospitalization, arrests and injuries during years when he was struggling to manage bipolar disorder alongside heavy alcohol use. At his lowest point, he became suicidal and required emergency intervention. [1]

• Shamszad has said that after committing to treatment, he stopped drinking and entered rehabilitation. He has since described regular psychiatric medication, therapy and self-care as continuing parts of how he manages bipolar disorder and maintains his recovery. [1]
• Shamszad has said that his experience of treatment improved as he became more willing to commit to it, including following medical advice and addressing his alcohol use alongside bipolar disorder. [1]

• Shamszad has described rebuilding his life over time. After a decade of working on his mental health and recovery from alcohol abuse, he said he had built a successful business and started a family. [1]
• He has emphasized that maintaining his mental health still requires continued effort, saying that “the work was, and remains, unending.” [1]

• Shamszad has increasingly used his experience with bipolar disorder and addiction to speak publicly about stigma, treatment and recovery. He has appeared on podcasts, spoken to students and other groups, and framed his advocacy around making conversations about mental illness and substance use more open and direct. [5][6]
• In 2025, he published I Am Someone You Know: The Fight for Recovery and Mental Health, a memoir about bipolar disorder, addiction and recovery. [7]

“Be vulnerable, real, and raw.”

— David Shamszad [1]