Suzy Favor Hamilton

• Favor Hamilton has said she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in early 2013, a few weeks after her work as a Las Vegas escort became public. She initially felt shocked by the diagnosis and has said she was not fully truthful with her psychiatrist at first because she wanted to continue the behavior she was engaged in at the time. [4]
• Before receiving the bipolar diagnosis, she had been treated for depression, including postpartum depression after the birth of her daughter. She has described the later diagnosis as helping her make sense of experiences she had not previously recognized as related to bipolar disorder. [3][1]

• Favor Hamilton has described a prolonged manic period marked by intense euphoria, hypersexuality, excessive spending, and increasingly risky behavior. During this period, she began working as an escort in Las Vegas under another name. [2]
• She later said that the behavior felt completely normal to her at the time and that she could not see that what she was doing was wrong. [2]
• She has described a sharp contrast between these manic periods and depression. While in Las Vegas she felt euphoric and driven to keep the high going; when she returned home, she said the depression returned. [2]

• Favor Hamilton has said that after her bipolar diagnosis she began therapy and medication. She has described continuing to work with a psychiatrist, including contacting her doctor when she notices that her mood is becoming persistently low. [5]
• She has also described yoga and meditation as coping strategies, saying that mindfulness practices have helped her find healthier ways to manage difficult periods. [5]

• Favor Hamilton has described the first year after her diagnosis as extremely difficult. She later described her bipolar disorder as manageable and herself as healthier and more independent. [3][1]
• She has also emphasized that she does not consider herself cured and expects bipolar disorder to remain part of her life. [1]

• Favor Hamilton has become an advocate for more open discussion of bipolar disorder and mental illness, particularly around shame and stigma. She has said that she tells her story to show what mental illness can look like and to bring rarely discussed aspects of bipolar disorder, including hypersexuality, into the open.
• Favor Hamilton has distinguished between rejecting shame and acknowledging regret and the pain her actions caused people close to her. [1]

“My bipolar is manageable now. I learned to feel no shame for what I did. Regrets yes, but no shame.”

— Suzy Favor Hamilton [1]