Bipolar and Writing

Last October, I was diagnosed with Bipolar II disorder. I actually diagnosed myself, went to my doctor, and told him what I thought. He agreed and put me on medication.

It's helping A LOT! It's actually amazing how well it's helping. It's not, however, doing everything. What do I do to supplement my medication?

I write.

I actually talked to another author about this who is also bipolar. She says that writing helps because you have to use both sides of your brain to do it. The creative side to come up with the story, and the logical side to organize it.

My life suddenly made sense.

All my life, I couldn't tell if I was "right brained" or "left brained". I figured I was left brained, since I was really good at math, but couldn't draw a picture to save my life. But at the same time, I was more imaginative than almost anyone I knew, thinking of things that no one would ever think of and coming up with solutions to problems that are unlikely to occur.

I'm bipolar. And it all makes sense.

It's interesting how one revelation can change your life. I'm not going to put this author's name up, as I don't know that she'd want me to, but I have a feeling that she will never know just how grateful I am that she said those things that day. She went through several years where she didn't write at all and it just about destroyed her. I'm amazed. I can't go through more than a few weeks.

I suppose you could say that we're addicted to writing.

I'm okay with that.