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There has been a recent increase in the development of digital self-tracking tools for managing mental illness. Most of these tools originate from clinical practice and are, as a result, largely clinician oriented. As a consequence, little is known about the self-tracking practices and needs of individuals living with mental illness. This understanding is important to guide the design of future tools to enable people to play a greater role in managing their health. In this article, we present a qualitative study focusing on the self-tracking practices of 10 people with bipolar disorder. We seek to understand the role self-tracking has played as they have come to grips with their diagnosis and attempted to self-manage their health. A central motivation for these participants is to identify risky patterns that may be harbingers of mood episodes, as well as positive trends that support recovery. What emerges is a fragmented picture of self …