Maya Schumer!
LightNews LightNews
banner
mayaschumer.bsky.social
Maya Schumer!
@mayaschumer.bsky.social
95 followers 160 following 4 posts
Neuroscientist🧠living with➕researching #BipolarDisorder & #Neuroimaging🧲 | Postdoc Fellow @McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School | PhD @PittPsychiatry | #LivedExperience #EndStigma⚡️ Views=mine!🤓
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Maya Schumer!
dpn-journal.bsky.social
A powerful DPN Perspective from @umarchatterjee.bsky.social, @mayaschumer.bsky.social, @deffinger.bsky.social, @viscidula.bsky.social, Noel Vest, Michael Cahill, Brandon Staglin, & @ericjnestler.bsky.social.

DPN is grateful for the authors' dedication to writing this!
November 13, 2025 at 3:14 PM
mayaschumer.bsky.social
@umarchatterjee.bsky.social
May 26, 2025 at 12:36 AM
mayaschumer.bsky.social
@afspnational.bsky.social @isbd4.bsky.social @namicommunicate.bsky.social @onemindorg.bsky.social @bipolardiscoveries.org @stopthestigma.bsky.social @bipolaruk.bsky.social
May 26, 2025 at 12:35 AM
Reposted by Maya Schumer!
umarchatterjee.bsky.social
If you’ve ever struggled with chronic s#icidality, felt the weight of stigma in academia, or questioned what makes life worth holding onto—this episode is for you. @mayaschumer.bsky.social’s powerful story is one of survival, honesty, & the power of turning pain into purpose. ❤️🙌🏾👏🏾 #BipolarDisorder
May 20, 2025 at 12:46 AM
Reposted by Maya Schumer!
umarchatterjee.bsky.social
In Pt. 1, @mayaschumer.bsky.social shares her full experience across 3 decades:
☯️ Growing up w/ a father with Bipolar 1
☯️Her own journey from Bipolar 2 → 1
☯️ Hospitalizations
☯️ Lithium
☯️ Chronic s#icidality
☯️ #MetabolicPsychiatry
☯️ IV k3tam!ne
☯️ TMS
☯️ Redefining “stability”
Read full topics below ⬇️
(00:14:00) Artist → neuroscientist plot-twist (00:17:46) Creativity, bipolar, & the Kaye Redfield Jamison spark (00:20:26) How & why we met on X/Twitter, defying the norms of academia, & building a movement together (00:26:30) Ableism in research spaces & how we fight back (00:31:34) Childhood in bipolar's shadow: therapy at three & "casserole syndrome" (00:38:42) Stigma lessons, dignity, & mourning a living ghost (00:43:02) College crash: color-coding moods → diagnosis at 20 (00:46:30) Types | & Il, mixed states, spectrum-& living every corner of it (00:53:00) Compliance # acceptance: owning the illness vs. just taking meds (01:05:52) Losing sleep, losing friendships, & the 24/7 second job of self-monitoring (01:17:46) Seasonal mood whiplash & March-mania defenses (01:22:54) Keto, & lithium 2.0 (01:34:12) Daily IV ketamine, accelerated TMS, & pluralism (01:44:30) A brutally honest convo about chronic suicidality (01:52:00) Redefining stability, building lived-experience science
May 20, 2025 at 12:46 AM
Reposted by Maya Schumer!
umarchatterjee.bsky.social
On Ep. 40 of A Chat with Uma, I talk to Dr. @mayaschumer.bsky.social —a psychiatric neuroscientist who studies & lives with #bipolardisorder. Maya earned her PhD in neurosci at Pitt Med & is now a postdoc at @mcleanhospital.bsky.social @harvardmed.bsky.social modeling the dynamic nature of BD. 1/
On episode 40 of A Chat with Uma, I sit down with my o friend Dr. Maya Schumer-a psychiatric neuroscientist who studies bipolar disorder, the very illness she lives with. She shares her full experience across 3 decades: growing up with a father with bipolar 1 disorder, how her own bipolar 2 diagnosis morphed into bipolar 1, several hospitalizations, her relationship with lithium, chronic suicidality, metabolic psychiatry, IV ketamine, TMS, & redefining "stability." If you've ever struggled with chronic suicidality, felt the weight of stigma in academia, or questioned what makes life worth holding onto-this conversation is for you. Maya's story is one of survival, honesty, & the power of turning pain into purpose. Dr. Maya Schumer is a psychiatric neuroscientist & postdoctoral researcher who studies—& has lived experience with-Bipolar Disorder. Maya received her PhD in neuroscience from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in 2023, where she used task-based functional neuroimaging & coordinate-based meta-analysis to identify reproducible & replicable neural network markers of bipolar disorder risk. Currently, Maya is a postdoctoral fellow at McLean Hospital, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School. Mentored by Dr. Dost Öngür, Maya examines resting-state functional connectivity patterns & neural network dynamics across different stages & mood states in bipolar disorder, with an overall goal to model its dynamic nature. Maya's passion for research is informed by her own lived experience. In her role as a researcher with lived experience, she aims to address & dismantle the stigma surrounding serious mental illnesses (SMIs), make academia & research environments more inclusive & accommodating for those with disabilities; & advocate for meaningful co-production between individuals with lived experience & scientists.
May 20, 2025 at 12:46 AM