Today I am blogging for the enth day in a row and I'll admit it, I'm tired. I don't have the verve I did on day one and I am struggling with some depression and mania my illness brings with it. But sometimes you have to find a way and I have found a way, with a little Universal nudge to do just that. And I am going to combine my blog hops, the A-Z Challenge, with the Fellow Writers Blog Hop. Judging a book by its cover.
I have Bipolar Disorder and sometimes I have it and sometimes it has me. The preconceived notions people have about this disorder and those with a mental illness in general is that they are lepers and that they are limited in their ability to function within the confines of the world as you see it.
But here's the reality of the situation. I am smart. I am articulate. No, I don't like large crowds, and yes I do smaller groups better. I love writing because it allows me to control (lol or at least think I control some part of my world). I am not stupid. Yes I take medicine to manage my moods. But no, I am not crazy. There are people who are not mentally ill who perpetrate some of the vilest crimes who are perfectly sane.
My struggle can be a daily one. And to look at me sometimes you might think she's completely 'normal'. Here's a fact Jack, the only difference between me and someone else is, to borrow a phrase from Christopher Titus, is that "we're just the ones who've been caught".
I do, however, recommend, if you are suffering from any symptoms of mania, depression, or any other mental illness to seek treatment. That doesn't necessarily mean they're coming to take me away ;). That may mean doing something simple as reaching out and talking to a professional therapist. Getting some perspective is profoundly helpful.
If you are seeking more info on bipolar disorder and how you are not alone look up Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos of General Hospital) and research his personal story @ http://mauricebenard.tv/.
I am also at http://KarenCote.tv/blog-with-me all this week discussing Book One in my Lost Legacies Series #AnotherWayToDie. http://amylmccorklekentuckyauthor.webs.com/ and on Twitter http://Twitter.com/AmyLMcCorkle.
7 comments:
Congratulations on doing what you need to do to stay on top of what's going on in your life. My son has aspergers and he struggles everyday with just fitting in and working through his moods, I know exactly where you're coming from.
Have a great day! :)
Thanks for sharing, Amy. I was asked some questions by a doctor who considered me bi-polar, but I learned that I am an Empath...someone who picks up other's emotional 'stuff'. I've read a number of books on this and have also gone to some psychic professionals to help me out. A good book on the subject is 'Who's Stuff Is This?' by Yvonne Perry. Thanks again for sharing.
It's good that you are finding ways of managing your illness. Interesting post, and I hope you can keep up with the challenge! I have to because I'm one of the hosts, but really, a month long blog fest? What are we thinking?! LOL!
Thanks for sharing your personal experience with us. I'm glad to see you incorporating the writing blog into an explanation of Bi-polar and how it affects your life. I like the phrase you borrowed from Christopher Titus. It's true the rest of us are still hiding! LOL!
Interesting blog. So many people misunderstand mental illness, so they don't seek help when they need it. I suffer from clinical depression that began shortly after my youngest daughter was born. my sister made me go to the doctor. Years later, my son was born and back to the dr I went. Turns out, with my family history of depression I need meds all the time. It just took the emotional toll of birth to make things really bad.
Hi Amy,
Any kind of mental illness still has a negative stigma attached to it that so many people are so ashamed to admit when they had a problem, or too afraid to seek the help they need. I wish people would listen and learn, then they could accept that people such as yourselves are 'normal' as you said.
Thanks for sharing your experiences.
Erin
It puzzles me why anything to do with the mind worries people so - we happily accept a physcial disorder but remove eye contact fro mental. I have had clinical depression of and on and know how to a certain extent avoid (large crowds and noise def. not for me!!!) it needs talking about and well done for doing so -throw away book covers lets just read the text!
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