Diary of a Bipolar Explorer (Paperback)

In 2002 Lucy Newlyn found herself incarcerated in a mental hospital in Leeds. She had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act as a danger to herself and others during a psychotic episode after several nights without sleep. The psychosis was triggered by nearly three years of grieving for a dead sister, followed by a vigil at her father's deathbed during which she hallucinated that his hospital ward was a trench in the First World War. The episode uncovered psychiatric problems, which led in due course to a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder (manic depression). This condition, which involves extreme mood swings, is classified as a disability and requires medication; but it is also a source of creativity, giving access to some unusual dimensions of human experience. In her fifteen-year diary, Lucy Newlyn discloses recurring episodes of mania, depression, hallucination and paranoid delusion. Describing her struggles with family life and the workplace, she de-mystifies bipolarity and critiques an environment which still, even in the twenty-first century, is suspicious of mental illness. Above all, she celebrates the discovery that writing poetry enables a cathartic engagement with her own condition. Diary of a Bipolar Explorer is not a self-help manual but a candid confessional memoir which offers no easy solutions. It involves a mixture of observation and reflection, interspersing poetry with prose. Written accessibly, it will appeal to anyone interested in mental illness, creative process and the life of the mind.

General

Imprint:	Signal Books Ltd
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	February 2018
Authors:	Lucy Newlyn
Dimensions:	216 x 138 x 22mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	232
ISBN-13:	978-1-909930-63-6
Categories:	Books > Medicine > Other branches of medicine > Psychiatry Books > Language & Literature > Literature: texts > Essays, journals, letters & other prose works > General Books > Health, Home & Family > Family & health > Coping with personal problems > Coping with illness
LSN:	1-909930-63-6
Barcode:	9781909930636

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!