Hello
How a Medicaid Poster Became an Unexpected Tool for Managing Bipolar 1
Sometimes the most helpful insights come from the most unexpected places. For me, that place was a Colorado Medicaid poster on the wall of a mental health clinic I worked as a security guard.
I’d been sitting in the waiting room, doing what I always did, cycling through anxious thoughts, my mind jumping between worry, self-criticism, and frantic planning. Then I noticed the poster. It was a simple public health message about accessing mental health services, but it had a colorful scenic image indirectly promoting ways to approach problems: facts, feelings, caution, benefits, creativity, and process.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but this was essentially the Six Thinking Hats method, a structured approach to thinking developed by Edward de Bono that assigns different “modes” of thinking to help people make decisions more clearly.
The Accidental Discovery
What struck me wasn’t the Medicaid information itself, but that scenic image. I pulled out my phone and snapped a picture. Over the following weeks I finally did an AI search on the meaning of a yellow hat, discovering the work of Dr. Edward De Bono. After that moment when I felt my thoughts spiraling into manic excitement, I’d look at that image and ask myself: “Which hat am I wearing right now?”
Usually, I was stuck in one mode. During slight depressive episodes, I was trapped in the “caution” hat, seeing only risks and problems. During extreme manic/hypnotic periods, I was all “benefits” and “creativity,” over looking practical concerns entirely.
A Framework for Balance
The poster gave me a framework to recognize when my thinking was becoming unbalanced, a common symptom of bipolar 1. It didn’t entirely replace therapy. But it became a complementary tool, a way to catch myself when my mood was affecting my judgment.
The Bigger Picture
That Medicaid poster wasn’t magic, but a resource to put to the test through journaling. Bipolar 1 is a chronic condition that I manage with intentional effort. But it reminded me that recovery tools can come from anywhere, even a government health poster in a clinic waiting room.
Sometimes structure is exactly what a racing mind needs. And sometimes, the support we need is already hanging on the wall, waiting for us to notice it.
