“I have Bipolar I disorder. I also had a mild traumatic brain injury in a car wreck while I was a student at Alabama. I think that brought the bi-polar out earlier. I went to a neuropsychiatrist and I was diagnosed with Post-Concussion Syndrome and ADHD. I was treated for ADHD and graduated in four years with a brain injury. I got a job and it was high-stress. I was on an anti-depressant but I wasn’t taking an anti-psychotic for the Bipolar because that was before I was diagnosed. Taking only the anti-depressant can swing you the other way and make you manic. I started hearing voices and going into a panic. I was diagnosed with Bipolar when I was 25. It turns into paranoia, voices, and suicidal thoughts. When you are manic, you have enough energy to follow through with those thoughts. I attempted suicide several times. It is hell on earth to be trapped in your body not knowing what is real with voices that are mean. My voices were constantly critical and told me lies. The moods were crying, yelling, and laughing in 30 minutes. I went to EastPointe, an adult psychiatric hospital in Daphne for seven days and I got back on track. I take my medicine every day that makes this manageable.
Mobile and Baldwin counties are fortunate with the mental health care options they have. I went through The Harbor program at Thomas Hospital that is group therapy and counseling for mental health and substance abuse. The people running that program are angels. My church, St. Paul’s, covered what insurance didn’t. My church has saved me so many times. My pastor took me to the mental hospital in 2015.
I want people to know they are not alone. There is always someone to call. You can start with NAMI (the National Alliance on Mental Illness). After I got out of the Harbor Program at Christmas of 2019. I had never felt so happy and stable in my life. I could finally see a future for myself and had the tools and structure to help me take responsibility of my actions. The Alabama Vocation rehab was helping me look for a job. I was Sponge Bob Squarepants, ‘I am ready.’ I want to be a peer specialist at Alta Pointe and be a cheerleader and provide support to people who are going through where I have been. Then quarantine happened and the world suddenly stopped. I have to remind myself I have been through worse and to look for the bright sides. My sister works from home and I am helping take care of my nephews while she works. I love this time with them.
Be understanding of your friends and family who have mental disorders. Make sure they are taking their medicine and are going to a therapist. A general practitioner can help get medication started and refer you to a psychiatrist.
I make crosses and Anglican rosaries from broken and junk jewelry. I glue the jewelry on crosses and making one cross takes about ten hours. This is an interpretation of God’s love for us. He takes us in all of our brokenness and through his love we are transformed into something beautiful.”
(I am now doing Soul-cial distancing interviews by phone. If know someone I should interview, send me an message or email.
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