Please welcome David Castillo as the Bilerico Project's newest contributor! David is a a journalist who does communications for a health non-profit in Washington, DC. While other contributors and I have blogged a bit about being bipolar and some of the challenges that goes with it, David applied to be part of the team with a unique angle.

In the last two years mental health, specifically bipolar disorder, has come to the forefront of my mind in a way that I never expected nor anticipated. A year ago this June, my partner Jim suffered from a manic episode that resulted in a weeklong hospital stay and our lives and our relationship has been changed ever since. Since then, Jim has made several lifestyle changes to stay healthy and I've been on a personal journey to better understand him and this highly misunderstood illness.

Bilerico Project is proud to be one part of a larger effort to lift the veil of mental illness and hopefully David's participation with help us to talk freely about an issue that our community has ignored for too long.