Insight 06: I’m not alone!

It’s been exactly 20 days since I’ve started this blog and I’m happy to have found a few people that I can totally relate with.

I met Seaneen Molloy when I googled “bipolar blogs” and her site, thesecretlifeofamanicdepressive.wordpress.com, was listed in the top 10 by Psycentral. Seaneen is Northern Irish and a bipolar patient but what I like most about her is her dark humour. Recently she wrote about her father’s death and she designed a postcard which said “Happy Father’s Day! Sorry you’re dead.” I haven’t found another bipolar blogger that has a sense of humour quite like Seaneen’s.

Then I met Charlotte when I searched for “@bipolar” in Twitter. Charlotte is in her 30s and you guessed it, she’s diagnosed with bipolar too. In her blog, purplepersuasion.wordpress.com, she talks intimately about her life and her posts are well researched. We share a common issue – gaining weight while being prescribed with mood stabilisers which according her, made her lose motivation to exercise. I was once a fitness freak - I ran and cycled so much that I was as thin as a stick. Then I went through a long depression phase where even the thought of leaving my house was too much for me. So I’d put on 16kgs and now I have love handles that nobody loves. I’m glad to have found someone like Charlotte who’s going through the same motions as I am.

I also gained a follower called Pocket Riders via Twitter. Pocket Riders is a charity organisation that offers moral support to those who suffer from mental illness. One day I was feeling sick from loneliness so I thought of going to a tourist bar and talk to strangers. I tweeted Pocket Riders about it but being bipolar I was swinging back and forth on the idea. Finally I decided to go and it’s mainly because I told someone about it so I better come good on decision. When I was at the bar a Pocket Rider tweeted me and said that’s a great idea and asked me if I know where to find them when I need them next. I said “Yeah, right here in my pocket.” They replied “You could have had a dust out in here ;)” I laughed and went back a happy man.

Honestly I still feel miserable from time to time but at least now I’ve some people that I can relate with and also talk to. I’m definitely not alone!