I told you a new book on bipolar disorder was coming. I’ve been working on it for months, and while it’s not here yet, the title and cover are here. I hope you enjoy this Natasha Tracy bipolar book title and cover art reveal.
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The Bipolar Burble blog welcomes guest author somePlaywrights, a collaboration of two writers based in Annapolis and Brooklyn, who face, seemingly weekly, a struggle to succeed as a creative, bipolar collaboration.
On its own, the practice of creating art is bizarre: fusing this abstract feeling with that concrete image, trying to convince others of something only you can see, and all the while endeavoring to balance concept with content. With the addition of bipolar disorder, a condition that is just as, if not more, slippery, firm, and fleeting, the artistic process often teeters between genius and delusion, between coherence and disunion. It is in this realm, where mania meets medium and depression intersects with artistic production, that we, as bipolar artists, must carve and claim our collective space…
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Note: For this post I used Grammarly’s grammar correction feature because writing without good grammar is like skydiving without a parachute: you don’t need good grammar to be hired as a writer; you need good grammar to be hired as a writer twice.
I’m a bipolar writer. This is not news to anyone. As a person with bipolar disorder, I naturally have good days and bad days. Specifically, I naturally have average days and horrifically depressed days. And it impresses people that the Bipolar Burble blog manages to stay running through it all. Every week I get one or two posts up no matter what.
So people have asked me, how the heck do you do that? How do you keep a (popular) bipolar blog going through the depressed times?
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Don’t get me wrong, most of the feedback I receive for writing the Bipolar Burble blog and elsewhere is positive. People, mostly, appreciate what I do and how I do it.
Nevertheless, some people, not so much. Today I received this regarding my writing:
I hope this individual kills herself for writing this bullshit.
Go fuck yourself you ugly bitch.
This comment never made it online, for obvious reasons, but as I’m the moderator, I see it nonetheless.
This comment was in regards to this post I wrote on the intelligence of people with bipolar disorder.
In the post, I point out that people with bipolar disorder are not, in fact, more intelligent than the average person and, actually, exhibit cognitive deficits. You can go read the post for details, but basically, people with bipolar disorder suffer from a variety of cognitive deficits which may factor into your definition of intelligence. (You’ll note that, in the article, each cognitive deficit contains a link to the source for the information. You’ll also note that I never said anything about creativity. It may be the case that people with bipolar disorder do show more creativity.)
And boy, do people take offence to that fact. There is this prevalent myth out there that people with bipolar disorder are somehow brilliant and that’s a good part of having bipolar disorder.
Um, no.
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One could argue that I am a famous mental health writer. Under “mental health writer” on Google, a post I wrote is on the first page and my bipolar blogs are on the first and second page of the Google search results for “bipolar blog.” Moreover, I have over 35,000 followers on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.
So yes, I’m arguably a “famous” mental health writer.
And lots of other people want to be where I am. I get questions weekly from people starting blogs or writing careers who want advice on how to go about doing it. Well, if you want to be a famous mental health writer, or just plain old build a following, here are a few tips.
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Hi all.
I’ve been getting a lot of requests to guest write at the Bipolar Burble. Well, it’s nice to know I’m so popular! I’m really happy to hear from you but there are guidelines if you want to be published here. These aren’t meant to scare anyone off, these are just to let you know what I’m expecting.
Here are some guidelines for posting on the Bipolar Burble.
I really want to hear other people’s opinions and experiences so I would like to see:
I’m a mental health writer. When I tell people I’m a mental health writer, however, the most common response I get is, “what’s that?”
Well, like a travel writer writes about travel, I write about mental health. Perhaps my type is not as common as a travel writer, but mental health writers are out there, nonetheless.
And, I have to say, it’s not easy being a mental health writer. It means talking about unpleasant subjects on a daily basis and facing parts of yourself that you’d probably prefer to gloss over. And it means forming an opinion, standing up and standing by that opinion even when it’s very unpopular. (At least, that’s what being a mental health writer means to me.)
And making a living is hard and there are no vacations, no weekends and no sick days.
But. There are big bonuses.
Read MoreThe Bipolar Burble welcomes guest Karen Tyrell. Karen is an Australian mental health advocate and author of the new mental health memoir Me & Her: A Memoir of Madness.
Today Karen shares a little about her life and the place writing has had in her bipolar disorder recovery.
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Every six weeks or so I like to do a quick round-up of writings I’ve done elsewhere, just in case you’ve missed them. This session’s round-up include subjects like assisted outpatient treatment, self-harm and mental health stigma. Here are some of the notable articles:
And for those interested in that sort of thing, I’ve created an Awards and Media page for the Bipolar Burble which includes my recent win as one of the Best Bipolar Blogs from Healthline.com
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