Thriving With Bipolar

How our in-house brand Thriving With Bipolar reached 48.3K monthly views on Instagram with just 1,154 followers.

TWB (@thrivewithbipolar) is our in-house brand at Priceless Copy, built to connect with the bipolar community through storytelling, strategy, and lived experience.

This isn’t just a brand. It’s personal.

Thriving With Bipolar started as a passion project. Our founder was a therapist before she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Then, her clinical expertise turned into lived experience.

Artwork of overlapping side profiles of a woman's head and a man's head with a purple background showing private practice marketing.
A collage of six images about bipolar disorder and mental health. The top row includes a blurred photo of shadows and leaves, a woman smiling at a man giving a high five, and a woman sitting on the beach at sunset. The bottom row features a title slide comparing bipolar I and II, a woman working in a laboratory, and a woman holding her face and smiling. Text overlays include questions about talking about bipolar at work, feeling alone with bipolar, and feeling supported.

The Challenge:

Create a safe, relatable space for people living with bipolar disorder. With a modest following of just 1,154 Instagram followers, the goal wasn’t vanity metrics—it was meaningful engagement and real connection.

Approach:

  • Storytelling grounded in lived experience.

  • Meaningful community engagement.

  • Strategy posting schedule.

Results:

  • In just 30 days, Thriving With Bipolar reached 48,300 accounts.

  • That’s 42x its follower count—without paid ads.

  • No paid promotions. Just emotionally resonant, stigma-breaking content—crafted with lived experience and clear intent.

  • Engagement rates were consistently above industry average. Comment sections were full of conversation. And, posts earning high save and share counts, helping the brand reach new audiences organically.

Instagram profile page of 'thrivewithbipolar' showing 101 posts, 1,154 followers, and 508 following. This shows our social media marketing success.
bullseye representing mental health advertising

Takeaway:

This is what happens when your content connects with the right people. When your voice cuts through the noise and says, “You’re not alone.”

image of social media post representing healthcare social media agency

How we turned a controversial question into a viral Instagram post.

Overview

When it comes to mental health content, it’s essential to strike the perfect balance between engagement and sensitivity. We did just that with this Instagram post we created for Thriving With Bipolar: 

"Can you manage bipolar without meds?"

Conversations about mental health medications can be polarizing. There’s also often alot of misunderstanding around medications. 

Our goals with this post were to: 

  • Encourage conversation and avoid misconceptions. 

  • Educate with scientifically-backed information and spark conversation. 

  • Reach new brand audiences. 

  • Position Thriving With Bipolar as a compassionate, trusted voice with expertise in mental health, as well as lived experience. 

Illustration of multiple pills and capsules with text asking if you can manage bipolar without meds and a social media handle.
Instagram post discussing bipolar disorder, emphasizing medication, therapy, healthy living, and mentioning that bipolar disorder has no cure.
Bar graph showing social media analytics with total views of 8,802, a breakdown of followers at 8.1% and non-followers at 91.9%, and sources of accounts with from home 504, from profile 312, and from other 76. Total accounts reached 5,828.
Social media analytics dashboard showing interactions, followers, non-followers, and post engagement statistics, including likes, comments, saves, and shares.
Screenshot of a social media profile analytics page with metrics such as profile activity, profile visits, external link taps, business address taps, and follows.

The Strategy

  1. Clear, powerful hook
    We led with a simple curiosity-sparking question. This stopped people from scrolling and invited them in for a conversation about this topic.

  2. Uncluttered design
    The streamlined, neutral visual was simple to keep the focus on the question.

  3. Insightful caption
    The caption provided education and acknowledged the reality: bipolar disorder has no cure, and medication is vital for most. It was also empathetic and highlighted complementary supports like lifestyle changes and therapy.

  4. A strategic mix of hashtags
    We used targeted hashtags (#bipolarawareness, #bipolar1, #bipolardisorder) to extend reach while maintaining relevancy. This helped this post get found in search. 

Social media marketing for therapists case study

The Results

  • 8,802 Views: 92% from non-followers, demonstrating that this post resonated far beyond the existing audience.

  • 5,828 accounts reached: strong organic reach without paid promotion.

  • 294 profile clicks:  Proof that the right content gets people curious enough to want to learn more. 

  • 45 new followers: 45 people decided to stick around after coming across this single piece of content. 

  • 138 likes & 68 comments: high engagement for the account’s follower size, with meaningful conversations in the comments.

  • 31 saves, 16 shares: Proof that this is content worth passing around and coming back to. 

  • Rich conversations: This post sparked discussion from those with lived experience, professionals, and peers. 

A digital illustration showing a woman holding a megaphone emerging from a smartphone, with connected human profile icons around it, representing social media or digital marketing.

Why It Worked

  • Relatable topic: Medication debates are common in mental health spaces. Many marketing companies shy away from topics like this altogether or handle them incorrectly. We addressed this sensitive directly but responsibly.

  • Simple, yet effective: We didn’t overwhelm the audience with tons of text or visuals. 

  • Helpful: Offered credible information while inviting discussion, not simply giving opinions.

Key Takeaway 

This post shows that you don’t need shock value to go viral—just the right balance of relevance, education, and intentional design.

Woman taking medication as part of therapist social media marketing