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Advocate, bipolar, mental illness, NAMI, schizophrenia, writing
In my late twenties, after my first stay in a psychiatric ward of a hospital, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder (bipolar with psychotic features). Later, in another psychiatric facility, a psychiatrist would make notes that he believed my diagnosis was schizoaffective disorder. Years later, another psychiatrist, after having treated me for six years, would say, I wasn’t mentally ill. Two years after that, a psychiatrist would diagnose me with paranoid schizophrenia, and that diagnosis would stick.
It’s been a bumpy road. I’ve had my challenges. I could be angry and bitter at God or the universe, but I’m not. I’m happy. Life isn’t perfect, but it is interesting, it is both beautiful and terrible.
I make reading the news a part of my daily routine. The tragedies across the world, starving children, catastrophic storms, wars, along with the high and gruesome crime rate in the United States, makes me think life is ugly, terrifying, grim, but then I will see a video on Facebook or Twitter that some remarkable person made a dream come true for a child with cancer, or that someone who lost a leg in the Boston Bombing or in Iraq just climbed a mountain, ran a marathon, or learned to ski, that is when I am certain that life is beautiful.
Goodness triumphs over evil, but you have to tend to it like a garden. You have to water the inspirational, the loving, the kind, and you have to make it grow in your life and the life of others. You have to give of the best parts of yourself. You have to share the best parts of others. It must be like an avalanche of the wonderful to combat the darkness. Combating the darkness is something we can all do…I’m turning on the light for people with schizophrenia. What light can you turn on? Which room can you brighten by your stories, courage, or heart? You have a switch there, and I dare you to flip it. Come on. I’ll be the first to be warmed by the light of your individual sun.
What an inspirational post! Thank you for that today. Do you like your Chateau theme? I also use it and like it a lot. http://lilypupslife.wordpress.com/
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I am afraid that I am so new to blogging that I don’t know what I like! I am really just trying to find my way around here. Your blog looks fantastic. Maybe, in time, mine will look as good. Thanks for your support.
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Believe me, I am not very tech savvy. Your blog can easily look as good as mine. If you ever have any questions I can help with, let me know. Many people helped me when I was new.
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Thank you!
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I too am new at blogging and have had my share of mistakes so far… eliminating most of my photos when I went to clean up and organize my blog! My sister went through something similar, with many different diagnosis (plural ?) from bipolar to borderline and back again. Extremely frustrating to not know and still many mental health professionals question the bipolar diagnosis. Very challenging. Take care and the best of health and happiness, Cheryl PS. I would love to follow your blog. Good luck 🙂
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Yes, I am definitely going through a learning curve with blogging! Thanks for the support. 🙂
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I’m so glad I came across your blog. It touches my heart to that you have the strength to let people know about your illness and that you are turning on the light for others. I started blogging a while ago and this past few months it has been a great blessing to me and I’m getting into a groove with it. I’d love to read your book.
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Thank you! I will post here when my book is available.
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It’s brave of you to open up and share. There are many people out there that do not open up because they are afraid of any sort of mental health issue having a stigma. Look at that German airplane that just went down, apparently the pilot that crashed it suffered from depression and tore up the doctors note rather than being okay with taking the help he needed. I am glad that you are writing and look forward to your posts.
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Yes, I hid my illness for over twenty years. There is just so much misinformation about schizophrenia and so many negative stereotypes. Thank you for your kind words! 🙂
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