Tag: Writing

The Dance of Anger – A Memoir Excerpt

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Mar 20, 2012

The Bipolar Burble welcomes author of Hopping Roller Coasters, Rachel Pappas for today’s guest post.

I wrote my memoir as an apology to my daughter, who I tore apart emotionally and verbally for years. But I also wrote the book to quiet some old ghosts. And I wanted to remind people fighting similar demons they are not alone.

My Ugly Dance

Probably like many of you, my “ugly dance” began ages ago – before I was old enough to know my own steps. I was following my very unhappy, sometimes untamably furious mother’s lead. I kept dancing once my daughter was born.

The red hot flashes would come on, the wires in my head would tighten, then pop, and I’d go at Marina. Later I’d kiss her tear-streaked cheek, tuck her in. Flip the light switch with the white kitty and sparkles, and hope my little girl would sleep soundly. Feel sick about what I’d just done, then do it again.

My sweet girl with the pixie cut and bangs accepted my apologies. Over and over.

Why Natasha Tracy? Why a Nom de Plume?

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Mar 17, 2012

Last week on HealthyPlace’s Breaking Bipolar I mentioned that I use a nom de plume. Yes, that’s right, Natasha Tracy is not my legal name. I don’t think this should come as a gigantic shock to anyone given as writers have been writing under pen names since the beginning of the written word.

But apparently it did come as a shock. And apparently people felt betrayed by this piece of information. And apparently some people felt like being rather nasty about it. And apparently some people felt like becoming ex-readers over it.

Well, OK, fine, that’s your prerogative. But I have my reasons for not using my real name. Here are a few.

No One Reads My Blog! – 10 Tips to Have a Popular Blog

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Jan 4, 2012

I started the Bipolar Burble eight years ago anonymously. And for the vast majority of that time, no one read my blog. Oh, sure, I had a few avid readers and a person would stumble on it now and then, but even after I started producing decent content, no one read it.

Which initially was OK by me. I didn’t write for others, I wrote for myself, so if I had one, lonely reader, then that was fine, I still felt the urge to push pixels around.

Until, of course, it wasn’t fine. Then I had to figure out why no one read me and figure out how to actually get people out there to know about me. And so people ask me all the time: How do I get people to read my blog? How do I find an audience?

More Natasha Tracy, Possibly Near You

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Jan 1, 2012

Recently I announced there are great things happening for me personally and for me at the Bipolar Burble. Well, there was so much good news I couldn’t announce it all at once. I was waiting for contracts to be signed and confirmations to come through. These things have now happened, so I have two pieces of news:

I will be speaking at the National Council on Mental Health and Addictions Conference
I will be writing for Healthline.com

Breaking Bipolar Reading Round-Up

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Dec 23, 2011

Happy holidays all.

I’m a pretty busy gal right now, so not a lot of time to write new material. I promise I’ll try to get to something new next week.

However, while you’re waiting, have you caught up on all your Breaking Bipolar articles? No? I didn’t think so. Here’s a run-down on some of what I’ve been doing over at HealthyPlace:

Last Minute Holiday Tips for the Bipolar – just published today. Here are four things you should know before you get any deeper into the holidays.
What 2011 Taught us About Mental Illness – a wrap-up of the top ten things research taught us about mental illness last year including: bipolar misdiagnosis, bipolar treatment success predictor, mania treatment comparison and antipsychotic information. Part one and part two.
You’re Narcissistic! Getting Over Insults – How one reader got to me even though I knew they shouldn’t have.
Celebrating Mental Health News – on why we should celebrate the good moments in mental illness.
How to Choose a Good Psychiatrist – one I’ve touched on here but in more detail.
Bipolar Disorder Thought Types – have you ever considered the odd types of thoughts you have a person with a mental illness? I have.
The Importance of Self-Care in Bipolar Disorder – tips on self-care plus a video.
Sexual Health and Bipolar Disorder – the sexual concerns of people with mental illness.

What’s up at the Bipolar Burble? Good News

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Dec 6, 2011

I don’t like to write too many self-referential posts because I’m pretty sure masturbatory navel-gazing isn’t why people come here. However, now and then people like to know what’s up.

And right now there are exciting things afoot at the Bipolar Burble and for me as well so I thought I’d let you know about them.

Mental Illness Words You Can’t Say

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Nov 14, 2011

As a writer I take claim to any and all words. They are mine and I do with them as I please. This includes mental illness / mental health terms. However, some people would argue that as a mental health writer and advocate, it is my responsibility to promote certain language and verbiage.

I did not agree to that.

I agreed to be a writer. I agreed to be opinionated. I agreed to be passionate. I agreed to be well-researched. I agreed to be intelligent. I did not agree to push a political agenda.

Mental Illness Words You Can’t Say

Nevertheless, people still insist that I not use the following words / phrases:

Whackjob
Nutjob
Nutbar
Crazy
Bonkers
Off his rocker
Mentally unstable
“The mentally ill”
Bipolars
“I’m bipolar”

And about a million other things. The politically correct people have told me I’m not allowed to refer to anyone’s mental capacity in anything but the most politically correct way. Which is, in case you were wondering, a person with a mental illness or a person with bipolar disorder, etc.

Again, not to flog a horse that happens to be dead, but I have poetic license which means I get to do whatever I want with words.

What you should be Reading in Mental Health

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Jun 3, 2011

Busy. Crazy. Crazy busy. New antipsychotic. You know how it is.

Mental Illness Articles You Should Read

As per the usual, however, I plow through my own research materials like a crazy person possessed. So I do know of many excellent articles you should be reading.

Check out these articles from Breaking Bipolar and other great sources:

Schizophrenia Awareness Fights Fear and Stigma – This is a video embedded in a post at Breaking Bipolar and has been quite well-received. Please take a look at this short piece and learn something about a mental illness that most people irrationally fear.
Do Mental Illness Diagnoses Matter? – Sometimes people argue that diagnoses are too broad and overlap too much. I’ve even heard of doctors not wanting to tell their patients their diagnosis because they don’t want them “hung up on it.” But I argue that even if ill-fitting mental illness diagnoses do matter. (Also read a good piece about addiction terminology. Did you know “addiction” isn’t in the DSM?)
Doctors Asking Questions About Suicide – Sometimes it seems like the questions doctors ask about suicidal thought are useless, but I don’t think they are.
How to Handle the Common Symptoms of Schizophrenia – This is an amazing document by the British Columbia Schizophrenia Society. This is so clear and so useful that I think it’s a must-read for anyone that has or knows someone with any mental illness. It will not just tell you about schizophrenia and psychosis, but will tell you about mental illness thought processes in general. (Also, How Friends and Families can Handle Psychosis.)
Scientific and Consumer Models of Recovery in Schizophrenia: Concordance, Contrasts, and Implications – Interesting paper that discusses various treatments including medication and non-medication based. Yes, it’s long but there are some interesting bit in there.