Tag: Mental Health

First of all, I want to thank everyone who read “I Hate Writing About Myself….” and provided their stories, helpful advice, and kind words. This sort of thing is what I like about Docudharma. If you were all here, I’d give you all big hugs!

As a follow-up, yesterday was something of a rough day–because I knew after having read many of the comments I needed to see a doctor and get started on meds in spite of my reluctance due to the cost….

when it comes to personal problems. They’re difficult to write about. And I know there are folks who’ve far worse problems and who are in far worse shape and in far worse situations than I am. And I’m grateful that I’m not in their shoes.

And more important things are going on in the world–things about which I’ve often been writing and will be writing more. So I’m not a whiner.

But currently I’m in a situation where I can use some support and friendly advice…

I am Manic Depressive, but on the bright side (ha ha), I am only Hypo-manic Depressive (Bipolar type II,  more on the Bipolar v. Manic Depressive naming debate later).  This means that, although I am still periodically afflicted by crushing depressions (Boo!), I don’t have to go through full blown manic episodes (Yeah!).  During one of these episodes a person might find themselves in any situation ranging from tearing their clothes off and running down the street yelling “I am God”, to getting tazered while blockading themselves in an airport lounge with chairs because they feel lost and alone.  

Instead I get to have Hypo-manic episodes in which I have exuberance, energy and concentration.  During a Hypo-manic episode I can multi-task like a son of a gun.  I also sometimes drive myself deeply into debt.  My decision making at work and otherwise is not affected, but in my personal life–especially financial decisions–I’m not all together.  One time I bought two guitars and a banjo, within a span of two weeks, at a time when I could barely pay the rent (I don’t even play the banjo!).  So, while Hypo-mania is easier to live with than full blown Manic Depression it is still a frustrating mess, to say the least.

After Katrina” is a haunting, evocative chronicle by Chris Rose, through his Times-Picayune columns, of his own life and that of a New Orleans not only struggling to recover but to survive. Not in chronological order but arranged by theme, the columns start with Sept. 1, 2005 and end with Dec. 31, 2006.

As he often speaks for a Louisiana in pain, Rose eloquently describes not only the surrealness of her post-Katrina landscape but also some intriguing, often eccentric characters he meets in his beloved city and his own descent into the private hell of depression–and that of those around him. “1 Dead In Attic” should be required reading for anyone who wants to know what life in New Orleans after what Rose often calls “the Thing” was, and still is, like from the inside.

Heartbreaking is the story of Nataline Sarkysian, the 17-year-old for whom CIGNA denied payment for a liver transplant, then reversed its decision when it was too late. My intent here is not to focus on this, because it already has been well-diaried, but to bring up a stunning parallel between this human tragedy and what has been happening to New Orleans and the rest of Louisiana.