bipolar

Filed under: Regular Contributors, Jane Goetzee, Themes, The Wandering Agoraphobe, Art Gallery

Peabody

by Jane Goetzee

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Filed under: Themes, The UpDown Report, Irked Videos

Quoted from StandUpForMentalHealth.com:

In David Granirer’s Stand Up For Mental Health course, mental health consumers turn their problems into comedy, then perform their acts at conferences, treatment centers, psych wards, for various mental health organizations, on college and university campuses, and most importantly for the general public. ‘We use comedy to give consumers a powerful voice and help reduce the stigma and discrimination around mental illness’ says Granirer. ‘The idea is that laughing at our setbacks raises us above them.

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Filed under: Themes, The UpDown Report

Recipes for the Bipolar Palate

by Rabbi Marc Wilson

AKA “Rabbi Ribeye”

AKA “Rabbiner von Beefsteak”

Have you already figured out that I am as bipolar as a rubber band? When I am up, I am a hyena. When I am down, I make Hamlet look like Jerry Lewis. Thank God for leading-edge medication, an understanding therapist, and a loving and ever-patient wife.

You probably do not know that I am Click to continue »

Filed under: Themes, The UpDown Report

Dia Calhoun: On Writing The Phoenix Dance

“I wanted to show her struggles with the illness: the difficulty getting properly diagnosed; the difficulty getting the proper medicine; and the difficulty of staying on the medicine due to side effects—all things that teens with bipolar disorder experience today.”

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Filed under: Themes, The UpDown Report

Cuff links for sale – a Rabbi’s tale

by Rabbi Marc Wilson

Please spare me the bromides about “Clergy are people, too” or “Being a rabbi would make anyone crazy.” This rabbi nearly committed suicide, emotionally abused his wife, berated his congregants in his sermons, sent ugly and grandiose emails, left his congregation in shambles, and departed his pulpit and his spiritual calling in disgrace.

The progression took decades, then sped up to the point of a near-fatality. It began in increasingly protracted episodes of depression. Periods of elation felt like respites of normalcy. Talk-therapy did not help. Patience of family did not help. Turning to God did not help. Antidepressants helped for a while, then lost their efficacy.

My mood swings became so radical, so detached from reality, that Click to continue »

Filed under: Themes, The UpDown Report, Art Gallery

by Dr. Joel Walker & Anna

About this photo essay

This is the story of Anna and her struggle with bipolar disorder.

The photos you are about to see were taken during therapy sessions between Anna and Dr. Walker, who introduced the camera when traditional talk methods stopped being effective.

Anna was having a really hard time recognizing that she was manic depressive, so Dr. Walker suggested something entirely unconventional: he brought a camera to one of their appointments and put it down between them. And he declared that either one of them could pick up the camera at any time during their sessions.

Two photographs taken just days apart show Click to continue »

Filed under: Themes, The UpDown Report

Starting My Own Business

by Michele Glaser, Founder of MSG Personalized Creative Services

I can write about my experiences for you. I can write about being an entrepreneur with mental illness.

I can tell you that it has not been an easy road, but I never give up and I keep trying to find new ways of letting people know about what I do.

I recently went to a place that makes t-shirts and I had them do something special for me. I had my logo put in the middle of the shirt and my documents kind of circle the logo and I have my business card on the right hand side of the t-shirt.

I do have business cards and I usually strike up conversations with people about what I do. I was talking on Friday night to a lady who is a salesperson for a calendar company and I happened to have showed her the t-shirt I made and she now wants to get her dog’s picture on a t-shirt with my program that I have for cat and dog lovers.

I do a lot of email marketing, and I always send samples of what I do to potential customers. The first ones are free, and after that I charge $10.00 per document (plus .85 mandatory sales tax if you live here in Illinois).

In the four years since I registered my company (MSG Personalized Creative Services) with the Illinois Department of Revenue, many of the orders I’ve gotten have come from my Mother’s friends, who wanted to make things for their children and grandchildren.

I had someone personalize the baby documents that I do. One is called the Unofficial Birth Certificate and the other one is called Welcome Baby.

I got the idea for calling what I do “Novelty Documents” from the people who publish InfoSource, who put things into their database that way. Which is how I came up with the domain name I purchased: www.noveltydocuments.us (under construction).

I have also attached some of my Novelty Document Flyers for you, which were done by a wonderful advertising firm here in Mount Prospect, IL called BN Creative Services.

When I first started out my father said I was spending too much money on postage (sending out samples). So I got out the phone book and I called up BN Creative Services. I went to visit their office, and I showed them what I did and I also personalized their First Name Meanings for them-and they have been helping me for the last couple of years.

They scanned the documents onto one page and when I got more documents they created another flyer for me.
  
I cannot think of anything else to write at the moment.

Thank you for this opportunity.

***

I tired out last night telling you my story so I am going to continue.

About 20 years ago I was working 40 hours a week and taking 2 night classes at a local community college, which I did for 7 years straight. I did not miss a semester between the fall of 1994 and the fall of 2000.

It was only discovered in 2002 that I was Manic-Depressed, and by that time I had lost 13 out of 20 jobs that I had.

I was having mood swings, spending sprees, and other things happening to me that I did not understand.

My job performance went down and I was eventually laid off from a company that I had worked at for six years.

I now can only work mornings at an outside job; after that I lose my concentration and get very agitated. I cannot wait to get home and get on the computer and check my e-mails.

I do some e-mail marketing of what I sell to gift stores and online websites.

Tomorrow I celebrate 2 years on this part-time job, where I do Telesales for an IT Consulting Firm-I put consultants into projects and now also do Permanent Placement.

In this job you have to develop relationships with the prospects you are calling, and it can take up to two years for them to finally have a need and it is also a matter of timing.

My disability does go beyond just the bi-polar because I also have other medical problems. I have a microfracture in my right knee, and the pain is usually what gets me up in the morning.

I now take Fosamax for Osteopenia because I am prone to a fracture in my right hip. This is something I have inherited from my mother.

I also have an overactive bladder, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and I am going through Menopause. I do not know if the rest of these are considered to be disabilities but I do take a lot of medication which does make me drowsy, which is another reason I can only work 2½ hours in the morning outside of the home.

My SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance) lump sum money is in my mother’s hands and she is the trustee on the account and I am the beneficiary, although my monthly deposit from the U.S Treasury will be going into my checking account.

I also have a learning disability when it comes to math, and I have a terrible time trying to keep a positive balance in my checking account.

To order a personalized novelty document, contact Michele Glaser at mglaser4260056@yahoo.com.

Related:
Click here to see a Novelty Documents promotional flyer.
Click here to see an example of an “On This Day in History” gift (The day Irked was born!).
Click here to see an example of a “Birthday Chronicles” gift.

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Filed under: Regular Contributors, Mara McWilliams, Themes, The UpDown Report

…Much More Than Bipolar
by Mara McWilliams

Spiritual Being created in love by the Universe for the Universe.
Daughter, to the Divine Goddess and God above.
Mother, to the biggest blessing life can offer, a precious daughter.
Sister, to a younger brother whom I miss very much.
Aunt, to a beautiful niece and nephew with whom I’d like to bond.
Lover of nature, rocks, trees, streams, and the ocean.
Lover of the Elements — water, fire, earth, air, spirit
Pisces from beginning to end in the fullest sense of the definition )-(
Lesbian - finally fully realizing my worth, my preferences, my sexuality
In Love with a woman who is helping me recover my spirit
Cutter — Self-mutilator, RECOVERING (though I never thought possible)
But no one is worth me hurting myself!
Insatiable — always willing to go safely to the next sensual level
Very Wacky in a fun loving way
Pagan — in love with Mother Earth, The Sun, The Moon, The stars and all our other planets.
In tune with lunar cycles and energy fluctuations
Writer, poet, fiction novelist, song lyricist
Dreamer who gets lost in worlds full of vibrant colors and visual challenges
Artist, visionary — acrylics, watercolor, colored pencils — vibrant expressions of self
Student of life — never prepared, but always willing to learn a new lesson, pain and all.
Alcoholic, RECOVERING. Thank the Universe!
Anorexic — working on little meals throughout the day and finding I am healing.
Bipolar & on meds but still riding the wave because there’s nothing else
for one to do.
Borderline — but self-learning cognitive behavior therapy to alter my
reactions to similar situations and circumstances
Delusional, hearing lil’ whispers calling me by birth name before I drift
asleep
Spastic, hyper, bouncy red rubber ball hip hoppin’ off the walls
Bisexual — a mask to hide my true sexuality
Atypical — not caring one way or the other
Rape SURVIVOR
Abuse SURVIROR
Asexual — preferring to not be intimate with anyone at all
Grandiose, believing I can conquer the world.
Deflated, because I know I can’t.
Exhausted, not having the energy to open my lids.
Lonely, sometimes just wanting to cry and hide under a snuggly down comforter
on a big huge bed with lots and lots of pillows.
Vain — milking my looks before they go away,
Yet fearful I’ve never had them anyway.
Reclusive, puzzled by the so-called sanity outside my door:
Arsons, Mutilations, Murders, Child molestations…
Honking cars, Traffic Jams, too much out there —
Inside here is preferable, where I am sure of who I am
And who I can become.

© 2006

If art is communication, Mara McWilliams is screaming. A California-raised, self-taught “outsider artist,” Mara was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder at 19 years of age. For most of her life she fought the demons associated with mental illness, until she decided to use the illness to her benefit. 

The birth of Mara’s art came from despair and led her into recovery. For her, art and recovery are inseparable. Mara started painting daily and has found art to be the truest form of self-expression. She chooses to not be restrained by the technical boundaries associated with the various genres. 

As an artist, it is Mara’s goal to relay the intense feelings associated with mental illness to her audience without stereotypical pretenses or filters. Painting allows that interaction to take place. The paint acts as emotion while the canvas is the treasure chest in which all hopes, fears and vulnerabilities are stored and shared with viewers.

She lends these same gifts to her poetry. Her first book, “Outta My Head and In Your Face,” opened to critical acclaim and adorns the libraries of some of the greatest thinkers of our generation. Through her art and poetry, Mara McWilliams hopes to be a hopeful blaring voice for those who are afraid that life ends after diagnosis.

See more of Mara’s work at www.recoverythroughart.com.

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 Filed under: Regular Contributors, Mara McWilliams,  Themes, The UpDown Report, Shoutout from the Cutting Edge, Art Gallery

Creative Art Therapy

by Mara McWilliams

See more of Mara’s work at www.recoverythroughart.com.

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