The Snob Is Profiled In The Summer Edition of BP Magazine
Wednesday, July 6, 2011 at 12:55PM
Earlier this year I wrote a profile -- on myself -- for BP Magazine, a quarterly periodical for sufferers of Bipolar Disorder. The story is now out in the Summer 2011 edition of the magazine. As long-time readers know, I have Biploar Type II and have been dealing with it for quite bit. I'd argue most of my life, although I wasn't diagnosed properly until late 2005. I always told myself that if I reached a period of confidence and stability, I would write about it. Due to the stigma mental illness has, most people who are Bipolar, but live productive, full lives, don't talk about it openly, out of fear of being judged. But when I was going through the worst of it, I realized it would have meant the world to me to meet another bipolar sufferer who was stable and doing well -- just to know that it was possible. That the way I felt then would not be the way I would feel forever. I've been stable since the spring of 2009. And I'm grateful for the peace a supportive family, good doctors, good medicine and wonderful friends have helped me achieve. I couldn't have done it alone. To read an excerpt, click here.
Reader Comments (3)
Hi, Danielle, I want to thank you so much for opening up about this. I didn't know that you were a sufferer and when I went back to your other blog postings about this subject I was hoping that maybe some of the symptoms you describe would be familiar to me. And boy, were they ever. I, too, have been (pre-?) diagnosed with either bipolar or bipolar 2 but I have yet to receive proper treatment. The financial debt stressors, the depression, the creative spells, the living back home with parents as an adult, the fears/phobias, the agoraphobia specifically, to name a few. In fact, before finding out you were a bipolar 2 sufferer I knew something about your revelation that you have several unfinished screenplays sounded too familiar. (I am an aspiring filmmaker with several unfinished screenplays too.) As you might be able to see, I am posting this at 5AM and that's not because I just woke up. Reading about your particular struggles with this and eventual recovery (for lack of a better word) is giving me a glimmer of hope. I have lost 10 years of my life to whatever this is. I just turned 30 two months ago and I'm determined to not live my 30's like I lived my 20's. I am so deep in an abyss it's not even funny. I've got to get out because things will only get worse.
E-hugs to you and BB. Snob, you are the shi@t. Please believe that!!!
@ BB
Thank you for sharing your story. I've probably had bipolar disorder all of my life, but it truly became unmanageable after 2002, so I know what you're going through. I felt like I lost my 20s to being sick as well. It's important to keep trying. Finding the right combination of medicine/therapy/coping skills takes a lot of trial and error. But when you finally find something that works it truly is a game changer.