Minami Kinouchi
PsychologistResearcher
Japan
Minami Kinouchi is a psychologist, social worker and mental health researcher in Japan whose work focuses on bipolar disorder, psychoeducation, peer support and lived-experience involvement. She has undertaken doctoral-level research in psychiatry at Nagoya University and is vice director and co-founder of Bipolar Psychoeducation & Peer Support Online. [2]
Career and work
Kinouchi holds Japanese national qualifications as a psychologist and social worker and has undertaken doctoral-level research in psychiatry at Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine. Her work has included research on the priorities of people with mental health conditions and their families and on online psychoeducation for bipolar disorder. [2][1]
She is vice director and co-founder of Bipolar Psychoeducation & Peer Support Online, a nonprofit providing psychoeducation and peer support for people with bipolar disorder and their families. [2]
What has been publicly discussed
- Kinouchi has publicly identified herself as living with bipolar disorder. She has written that she had been diagnosed and treated for insomnia since elementary-school age before her diagnosis was changed to bipolar disorder in her late twenties. [1]
- Kinouchi has said that she continues to experience smaller fluctuations in mood while living with bipolar disorder. She has described learning how to live with these changes as an ongoing process rather than presenting herself as symptom-free. [1]
- Kinouchi has worked to expand access to psychoeducation and peer support for people with bipolar disorder and their families in Japan. She co-founded the initiative that became Bipolar Psychoeducation & Peer Support Online in 2019; it was incorporated as a nonprofit in 2023. [2]
- She has brought her lived experience into professional and academic discussions of bipolar disorder and has emphasized combining professional knowledge with lived experience in mental health research, education and support. [3][2]
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.
Bipolar Psychoeducation & Peer Support OnlineResearch Activities Kinouchi's profile describing her diagnosis changing to bipolar disorder in her late twenties, ongoing mood fluctuations, qualifications and research activities.
Bipolar Psychoeducation & Peer Support OnlineMinami Kinouchi Detailed professional biography covering her qualifications, Nagoya University research, nonprofit leadership, peer-support work and public activities.
Bipolar Disorders2025 ISBD Symposia Abstracts Published International Society for Bipolar Disorders material in which Kinouchi identifies herself as a person with lived experience and discusses online psychoeducation.
Learn more
Recommended books and other resources about Minami Kinouchi and their experiences.
- World Bipolar Day Forum 2026 reportBipolar Work Lab
Report on a Japanese World Bipolar Day event featuring Kinouchi and lived-experience-led bipolar initiatives.
- World Bipolar Day AMA 2026CREST.BD
International public question-and-answer event in which Kinouchi participated as a psychologist, social worker, researcher and person living with bipolar disorder.
- Bipolar Disorder Video LibraryBipolar Psychoeducation & Peer Support Online
Part of Kinouchi's accessible Japanese-language educational series about bipolar disorder and psychoeducation.