HI,
I have been trying to write a post to introduce myself and tell of my experiences with bipolar disorder but there's been so much it doesn't fit in a forum post. So here's a bit for today. I'm 48yrs old, I live in rural manitoba and I was diagnosed with Manic Depression when I was 16yrs old. They still called it that in 1986 at the Brandon Mental Health Center where I attended a special school. My experiences with the mental health systems here were not positive ones and I had a real tough time figuring out life for many years, decades actually. It was a long journey that included addictions, homelessness, extreme instability, suicide attempts, very risky lifestyle choices and trauma.
Let me throw in just a little personal history, I came from an unstable, dysfunctional, violent, neglectful home as a child. To go along with bipolar disorder I have experienced many other psychological challenges in areas such as trust.
Anyways, this is all real hard to write out so I will skip 30yrs and tell you about today. Today I am stable. I've been more stable than i had been my entire life for about 14yrs now but especially stable the last 10yrs. The last 6 yrs have been extremely stable for me. I didn't know I could live like this, I have a wonderful life, a warm, comfortable home, a wonderful husband.It was a long long road to get to where I am today and truthfully, I don't know how I survived it but I did. I am now all broken up physically, I've had 2 spinal surgeries and facial reconstruction surgery to repair the physical damages I incurred throughout my journey. I'm old and broken and tired but I push on. I live happy and content. I live a quiet life and I continue to heal inside everyday.
Today I try to use my experience to help others. I fight stigma, raise awareness, raise funds to donate to mental health causes and I even created some earning opportunities with my last project in which I sold a package of products made by other women with bipolar disorder.
The feeling of maybe possibly making a difference for just 1 person was amazing! It spurred me to continue! I hope for big things in 2019!
So yeah that's me
HI!
I have been trying to write a post to introduce myself and tell of my experiences with bipolar disorder but there's been so much it doesn't fit in a forum post. So here's a bit for today. I'm 48yrs old, I live in rural manitoba and I was diagnosed with Manic Depression when I was 16yrs old. They still called it that in 1986 at the Brandon Mental Health Center where I attended a special school. My experiences with the mental health systems here were not positive ones and I had a real tough time figuring out life for many years, decades actually. It was a long journey that included addictions, homelessness, extreme instability, suicide attempts, very risky lifestyle choices and trauma.
Let me throw in just a little personal history, I came from an unstable, dysfunctional, violent, neglectful home as a child. To go along with bipolar disorder I have experienced many other psychological challenges in areas such as trust.
Anyways, this is all real hard to write out so I will skip 30yrs and tell you about today. Today I am stable. I've been more stable than i had been my entire life for about 14yrs now but especially stable the last 10yrs. The last 6 yrs have been extremely stable for me. I didn't know I could live like this, I have a wonderful life, a warm, comfortable home, a wonderful husband.It was a long long road to get to where I am today and truthfully, I don't know how I survived it but I did. I am now all broken up physically, I've had 2 spinal surgeries and facial reconstruction surgery to repair the physical damages I incurred throughout my journey. I'm old and broken and tired but I push on. I live happy and content. I live a quiet life and I continue to heal inside everyday.
Today I try to use my experience to help others. I fight stigma, raise awareness, raise funds to donate to mental health causes and I even created some earning opportunities with my last project in which I sold a package of products made by other women with bipolar disorder.
The feeling of maybe possibly making a difference for just 1 person was amazing! It spurred me to continue! I hope for big things in 2019!
So yeah that's me
HI!
Comment