Tag Archives: bipolar disorder
Beasts of our own making: the buyers’ market and identity politics.
Do we pay greater attention to the psychic lives of others in order to validate the idea that our own “otherness” is our own property? Or do we paradoxically invalidate our identities by being drawn to the ever-present public voices … Continue reading
Medication Stations!
Finn: We’ll figure it out. We’ll use the Force Han: [irritated] THAT’S NOT HOW THE FORCE WORKS! Doctor: We’ll figure it out. We’ll use medication. Me: [irritated] That’s not how wellness should work! *** Yes, I know, gratuitous use a … Continue reading
Eyes Turned Skywards: When Hope Against Hope is Not Enough
‘For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return.’ Leonardo Da Vinci Ever since I was a teenager, I have been … Continue reading
The Time Traveller’s Knife
I have a secret: I have a superpower. I can travel in time. I need no police box, no DeLorean. I slip backwards and forwards with ease. Now we are mid-January and the demarcation between this year and the last … Continue reading
Hidden Realities: The Consequentialist Problem of Mental Illness
This week I attended a referral appointment with a bipolar specialist, at the behest of my usual psychiatrist who had somewhat hit a brick wall in finding effective ways to treat my increasingly intense and unmanageable symptoms. I had already … Continue reading
[TW] Clock-watching: the countdown to the specialist
It seems that I’m a bit of an enigma to my current psychiatrist. I say current because his coming Monday I am seeing yet another doctor at the request of my current doctor. The pattern and intensity of my bipolar … Continue reading
[TW] Music and Lyrics: Soundtrack to my life
If it weren’t for my iPod I struggle to see how I would exist at all. My entire life, I have searched for the perfect playlist: the soundtrack to my life. I search constantly, ceaselessly excavating the bowels of iTunes … Continue reading
Layer Cake: Misery, Meditation and the Panic Monster
[TW: some content inappropriate for those in a precarious state] I am in a state: I am in sea of agitation and panic. It is easy to see, but impossible to tame. I can’t make decisions. I can’t speak fluently. … Continue reading
Gulliver Unravelled 