Intro

I blacked out the year I was diagnosed. No really. I don't remember 90% of it.

Before they figured it out, doctors thought it was just anxiety or major depression. They prescribed me drug after drug, but it just made it worse because they were treating the wrong illness.

Then the climax: I tried to kill myself.

I gathered together as many pills as I could find and took as many as I could keep down. My mom says I asked to go to the hospital. All I remember is waking up in the ER and telling the doctor I "accidentally" took too many pills.

A few 5150 holds later, and a whole year in darkness, someone finally said it:

Diagnosis? Bipolar 1. Just like mom.

At first, I didn't want to accept it. Who wants to become their parents?

But when the drugs became medicine and actually started to work, I could no longer deny it.

I am... I have... my diagnosis is bipolar.

Hopefully this blog and my story will help someone else figure that out before it becomes crisis, before it gets anywhere near deadly.

My original idea for Manic and Moody was to create a tea to help my fellow bipolar brethren, but I needed an expert in herbs, and my friend decided she did not want to be that person.

So here I am, blogging for the trillionth time about mental health, hoping I can help someone out there, connecting the dots for anyone wondering what is going on with their life.

If you are reading this, may your path forward be blessed so that you never have to experience the dark side of this disease.

May this rollercoaster of mental health have more ups than downs.

Whether you are bipolar or know someone who is, may this be your sign that mental hygiene is more important than ever.

Warm regards,

Manic and Moody