Feeling Bipolar
By Jack Larson
()
About this ebook
My bipolar brethren:
Communicating the feeling of bipolar to our loved ones is impossible. They can't walk in our shoes. They don't "get" us. But for the sake of our mental health, we need them to better symphathize with us. Talking only get us so far!
I use painting, prose and poetry to express my moods. When the three are experienced together, compassion follows. They "feel" me. My process has had a profound impact on my relationships with loved ones and myself!
Since we're kindred spirits, I want to share it with you. The doctors have a prescription pad and a couch. I'm hawking paint brushes in their lobby!!!
Art is the conversation. Herein are many examples. Let's go!!!
Jack
Related to Feeling Bipolar
Related ebooks
Reinventing My Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLuminary: A Magical Guide to Self-Care Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Language of Emotions: What Your Feelings Are Trying to Tell You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Unintended Traveler Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPerspective: Inspired by a True Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDepression Visible: The Ragged Edge Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeyond Love: A Collection of Channeled Messages from Passed-On Loved Ones Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPost Traumatic - A Black Physician's Journey Through PTSD Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLooking Death in the Eyes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Unfolding: A Journey of Involution Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCurtains Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Angel's Earring: Healing Through Dreams and Creativity Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Butterfly Years: A Journey Through Grief Toward Hope Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsI Will Never Leave You: A Soul Mate's Promise Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOn The Third Day: An Afterlife Journey Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe EX-BOX Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAwakening from the Sexually Addicted Mind: A Guide to Compassionate Recovery Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDiary of a Schizophrenic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCome Sway with me Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Journey Through the Darkness: A Story of Grief Recovery After the Death of My Daughter Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Off That Bus: Visions of an Epileptic Mind Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy Therapy Journal: A Journey of Healing Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAn Alpha Male's Love Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRoses and Thorns: a memoir-esque compilation of a beautiful and messy life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDating in the Dark: A MEMOIR ABOUT DATING DISASTERS WITH EPILEPSY, ANXIETY, AND PSYCHOTIC BREAKS Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGift of the Hit: Collected Stories - Volume 1, Life Happens: Then You Get to Choose Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrom a Victim Beyond Survival to Creativity Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Garden of a Desert Rose: A Spiritual Mystery Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeyond Goodbye: Living in the Experience of Loss Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Most Beautiful Monster Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Mental Health For You
The Highly Sensitive Person Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Winning the War in Your Mind: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Unfuck Your Brain: Using Science to Get Over Anxiety, Depression, Anger, Freak-outs, and Triggers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Be Yourself: Quiet Your Inner Critic and Rise Above Social Anxiety Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nobody Wants Your Sh*t: The Art of Decluttering Before You Die Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Unfuck Your Brain Workbook: Using Science to Get Over Anxiety, Depression, Anger, Freak-Outs, and Triggers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Healing Childhood Trauma: Transforming Pain into Purpose with Post-Traumatic Growth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond Thoughts: An Exploration Of Who We Are Beyond Our Minds Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Embrace Your Weird: Face Your Fears and Unleash Creativity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary of Ichiro Kishimi's and Fumitake Koga's book: The Courage to Be Disliked: Summary Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5ADHD Adult : How To Recognize & Cope With Adult ADHD In 30 Easy Steps Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Taming Your Outer Child: Overcoming Self-Sabotage and Healing from Abandonment Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Overwhelmed Brain: Personal Growth for Critical Thinkers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind: Dealing with Your House's Dirty Little Secrets Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Writing into the Wound: Understanding trauma, truth, and language Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Don't Want to Talk About It: Overcoming the Secret Legacy of Male Depression Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why Smart People Hurt: A Guide for the Bright, the Sensitive, and the Creative Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The New Codependency: Help and Guidance for Today's Generation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Decluttering at the Speed of Life: Winning Your Never-Ending Battle with Stuff Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Feeling Bipolar
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Feeling Bipolar - Jack Larson
My bipolar brethren:
Are you frustrated like me? Communicating the feeling of bipolar to our loved ones is impossible. They can’t walk in our shoes. They don’t get
us. But for the sake of our mental health, we need them to better understand us and throw more sympathy our way.
Talking only get us so far!
I use painting, prose and poetry to express my moods.
When the three are experienced together, compassion follows. They feel
me. My process had had a profound impact on my relationships with loved ones and myself!
Since we’re kindred spirits, I want to share it with you. The doctors have a prescription pad and a couch. I’m hawking paint brushes in their lobby!!!
Art is the conversation. Herein are many examples.
Let’s go!!!
Jack
1.) Open
I am severely bipolar 1. This book is crafted for you, my peer. It is my way of paying homage to you, an unappreciated gem whose alternative feelings shower our world with color. I do not pretend to know what you go through. I just want to share with you a way I draw closer to my loved ones – and myself. The better they understand my emotions and me, the deeper my relationship with them. Sympathy follows. Maybe my process will resonate with you. If not,
I hope you feel me, your brother, in these pages.
Throughout my life, I’ve been miserable at sharing my feelings. In return, my loved ones did a miserable job getting
me. I blamed them. They need to try harder! They have no clue what I’m going through. But then I stepped back and contemplated this cycle. I realized that I need to point the finger at myself. I’m responsible for putting them in their confused state! They’re not clairvoyant. How could they determine my moods from just conversation? I think I do a decent job feeling them
. It’s time to flip the script and have them feel me
!
So I put this collection of paintings and poems together, interspersed with prose, for a different kind of communication. Varied art forms, when experienced whole, elicit a keener insight into our nebulous universe. It’s an artistic tool which allows us to take better inventory of our disorder and convey it to our loved ones more meaningfully.
Talking only gets us so far. When we communicate our emotions, we say I’m down
or depressed
. We expect them to interpret those one-word descriptions. We need to dig deeper and sensitively express the moment. Poetry is a step in that direction.
Angst is all about me. I’m imprisoned; caged like a rat.
Nailed down to the floor, the world takes care of that.
I doubt I’ll survive a bitter culmination…
Rotting away in a cell… No emancipation.
They scorn. They mock. I cringe. They rock.
Bleeding head to toe… No help from the flock.
So lonely in this place, I feel disgraced.
Will I see my family again? Feel their embrace?
Just me and my lord, I’m dying by the sword…
I scour my brain, obsessed… Is this on my accord?
When I simply say, I’m depressed
, I’m leaving the receiver’s interpretation wide open. I cannot assume that my definition of that word is universal. What if our sister received this poem instead? Sure, it would upset her, but she would have a keener understanding of our troubled situation. She would be in a position to sympathize and alleviate some of that torture. That could be the difference between life and death. In order to clue sis in, our communications need to be colorful and elaborate.
Descriptive rhymes can help minimize our divide and stimulate clarity. But that’s only part of my communications concoction. Let’s hit them over the head with another type of expression to further drive home the point – a painting:
That’s graphic! After experiencing this, our sister will likely take us seriously. She’ll also be more emotionally available. These are two big necessities in our struggle. Of course we can’t create paintings and poetry in routine, everyday communication. However, making this an exercise reinforces one’s ability to elaborate, which ultimately earns sympathy.
And for the record, sympathy means two different things. One definition is negative – feeling pity or sorrow for one’s misfortune. We don’t want to experience that. The sympathy I’m referring to is sharing understanding for one another, striving to reach a common feeling. Why not facilitate their understanding so they can play a pivotal role in our catharsis? Aren’t you tired of their quizzical stares, misdirected consolations and empty affirmations?
This artistic process has worked for me.
2.) Inception
Fresh out of graduate school, I was working for Canon in New York. Living at home with family, I was incurring bothersome sleep patterns in which I’d alternate between racing thoughts, exhaustion and anxiety. I'd stare at the walls for hours on end. I'd sit up and mutter to myself. My experience with the universe was shifting. Rather than reacting to extraneous activity impacting my life, I was creeping deeper into my brain. My personality was always emotional and a bit manic, but now I was depressed, detached and less in sync at times. My catalogue of emotions was widening. My mother, a nurse, figured I had a sleep disorder and I should talk to a psychologist. Maybe the doctor could suggest cherry Nyquil and we could call it a day. So I traveled down Route 17 to Paramus, NJ and sat down with this doctor. He asked me a battery of questions. It took him about fifteen minutes to say, Jack, you are showing symptoms of manic depression. You need to visit a psychiatrist.
I will never forget that drive home from the psychologist's office. You would think that I would be overwhelmed with grief, but I was awakened. I had been questioning my fleeting grasp of society and inability to string rational days together. Normalcy had escaped me. However, this doctor branded my behavior! He opened a door of understanding that, on an initial level, tabled my predicament. I make more sense to myself! I was naïve to celebrate what has come to be a lifetime encumbrance.
Prior to greeting my mother, I had mixed feelings. I was elated to tell her about my disorder because I could get help and