Writing with Mental Illness

Once I read an article that compared Bi Polar mental illness as a superpower, like the X-men. Different, burdened and often rejected from society or having the inability to really fit in like a normal person. That’s because you are not a normal person. No one is a normal person, but those with mental illness suffer a greater barrier than the rest. Stuck in a world where the prevailing attitude seems to be that you can just “get over it”. Having been slightly unconvinced by a minor bout of a depressive mood and suffering from a real medically recognized disease are two different things. Not only are these mental health issues real, they are life threatening.

You cannot just will yourself into a better mood with mental health disorders, but the good news is that there is medication and you can learn not only to live with your problems, but make them work for you. As Bruce Lee said “Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own.” That was advice for forming your own martial arts as he did with Jeet Kune Do. You can take the same technique and make your 'superpowers' work. That means seeing a psychiatrist and maybe talking to a therapist as well. Getting on medication if you need to. That is life saving advice. Learn about your disease. There are many others who have the same disorder. They understand your type of suffering. I want to say that you are not alone. You are never alone, there are people that understand you. You just need to find them.

Alright so after you go to a psychiatrist get on some meds and learn about your specific diagnosis it is time to research. I am Schizoaffective Bi Polar Type Manic Type and also have Social Communication Disorder. My disease has left me in very dangerous situations before, I have been wandering the streets talking to myself. I understand the want of suicide. Though I have made progress and am no longer a self injurer, nor do I have suicidal ideation like I used to. I want to stress this and I want to stress this with the utmost importance: find a psychiatrist you can talk to and get on the proper medications. You may never be like everyone else and you know what that’s fine, but please give medications a chance. It may take a long time to get a proper diagnosis and the right cocktail of meds but it is worth it above all else.

Onto the specifics of how I utilize my mental health disorders to work for me. I am Bi Polar Manic Type rapid cycling mostly manic. I used to be on the depressed side, but I really liked being manic so I tilted the scales in that direction. Mostly with coffee and music. So I took my Schizoaffective Bi Polar manic type disorder and made it work for me because hypomania is a place to get stuff done in a very intense way. As long as you can take that laser focus and put it upon what you want to do it is fantastic.

Now the Schizoaffective part. First of all I want to say to the writers who use mental illness in their writing but do not understand it and place a villain as a mentally ill person. I get it. Mental illness is a scary thing, and it is likely that damaged people do damaged things. It makes sense. Just do your research, visit forums silently and observe how people with the specific illnesses really are.

Moving on, I have auditory hallucinations. I talk to people and I tend to talk to the same people more or less consistently at one given chunk of time. What really aids me in my writing is that I talk to the characters that are there. The ones I don’t talk to directly I can still hear their voice and then all I have to do is write out what they are saying or thinking. So I take the voices in my head and funnel them into the book. Not all characters are people that I talk to on a regular basis.

The intense hyper-focus of mania (or neurodivergent attributes) of having a special interest. The focus of which has changed through the years. Right now and for a long time I have been focused on writing. This is a very beneficial thing.

I want to end on a few words of advice. Screw motivation screw inspiration they are a fickle mistress that is guaranteed to leave you. Habit over motivation. Writing and or whatever your goal is with productivity is about real steps taken every day towards the goal you want to achieve. I know sometimes with Executive Function issues, Anhedonia, and various other things that it is hard just to get through a day. Take it one step at a time, and skew your illnesses to your advantage. Exploit your strengths, and strengthen your weaknesses. I have to constantly keep my brain occupied so it doesn't stab me. Good luck out there.