Blog
Community and Identity: Three Questions About the Mad Pride Movement
Last week, I had the opportunity to host a table at the “Mad Market” at Toronto’s “Mad Pride” festival. It was a great experience, as it gave me the opportunity to meet a lot of other people with mental illnesses and to see some of the excellent artwork that people had produced. Among other things, I really came to appreciate just how creative people with mental illnesses can be. Continue reading
Michael Ligtenberg: The Bipolar Boomerang
After the very positive feedback I have received here at Bipolar Today, I have decided to continue to share my experiences dealing with my recent diagnosis late in life. This is obviously a personal experience, and how I am coping with Bipolar Disorder as an individual. Today I am writing about a bad moment I have recently been through and am still going through as I write.
Have you ever thrown a rock into the water, or a stick in a park just for the sheer pleasure of throwing something and watching it as it sails through the air and then as it comes back down to earth, as the properties of gravity must dictate? Continue reading
A Thousand Natural Shocks: Functioning as a Bipolar Person
When I first heard the term “functioning”, I was actually rather annoyed by it. As it was explained to me, “functioning” meant something like “able to hold down a job.” The reason I was annoyed by it was that it seemed to me that it only represented society’s, specifically the economy’s, interest in my health. It reminded me of the time that the provincial government backed down and funded the flu shot, but only on the grounds that the flu stopped people from working, not just because having the flu, well, sucks. Continue reading
Hazel Butler: The Frying Pan Factor
Bipolar Today columnist Hazel Butler joins us again today from England to share her work with us. Hazel is an artist, blogger and archaeologist who runs the fascinating website Aädenian Ink.
Catastrophising is something at which I excel. I do it with everything: I can’t take the dog for a walk, because he will surely snap his collar…be hit by a bus…the sight will send me into such a rage I’ll slaughter the bus driver…the police will call in snipers to take me out before I do anymore damage. Continue reading
Taking Advice From My Cat: Bipolar Disorder and Self-Doubt
Because bipolar disorder is a mood disorder, it can have an important effect on our lives. Moods aren’t just things that are pleasant and painful. They shape both what we want and what we believe. This creates a problem for people with mood disorders. A mood disorder can make it difficult to know which of our desires and even beliefs we should trust. In this article, I will discuss this issue some of the tricks I have picked up for handling this self-doubt. Continue reading
Michael Ligtenberg: Bipolar at 47, Part Two – After
This is the second part of a blog relating my struggle with Bipolar Disorder. Part 1 discussed its affects on my life before diagnosis. Part 2 follows my path of acceptance and the proactive steps I am taking to understand who I am and what I can do to temper the tempest.
Part 2: After
Last autumn saw me fall into my deepest depression ever. Continue reading
Not Fighting the World: Handling Injustices as a Bipolar Person
I wanted to talk today about a topic that’s been concerning me a lot lately, which is how to handle injustices with bipolar disorder. By injustices, I simply mean when someone is doing something that is genuinely wrong, especially when those injustices affect us personally. This could include anything from someone spreading a harmful rumor to someone actively discriminating against me because of my bipolar disorder (or any other reason). Like everyone else, we often have people do unjust things to us. Continue reading
Michael Ligtenberg: Bipolar At 47, Part One – Before
After reading many blogs here at Bipolar Today, I have been inspired to relate my own experience with my mental illness. It is a 2-part blog centering on how this disease has affected my life before diagnosis and how I have dealt with it since diagnosis. Just as I found so many anecdotes here both helpful and reassuring, I hope that you, the reader, will be able to see a reflection of your own experience with Bipolar Disorder. I have also discovered that writing has proven to be a very therapeutic activity for me. Continue reading
Book Review: "An Unquiet Mind" by Kay Redfield Jamison
I thought I’d try something new today, and write a book review. There are a lot of books about bipolar disorder that I really like, and a few that I really don’t, and I thought it might be a good opportunity to share some of the excellent resources and stories that are available. This review contains spoilers, if one can really spoil a memoir, but I wanted to go through the various parts of the book to show the themes she touches on. Continue reading
The Enchantment of a Bipolar Life
Sometimes I’ll hear people say that people with bipolar disorder are “addicted” to mania and hypomania. I prefer to think of it as the “enchantment” of a bipolar life. Don’t get me wrong. Bipolar disorder often, even usually, can be disruptive and terrible experience. However, there are moments where it’s like the world is just crackling with magic. I don’t think that we should have to apologize for sometimes enjoying ourselves. Continue reading
To find out more, please visit the website for his private practice, Bader Mediation & Counselling Services.