Bipolar Disorder

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THE PAIN IN MY BRAIN

A woman with the bipolar condition asked me if I got migraine headaches. At first I said no.  Migraine headaches weren’t something I experienced. Then I thought about pain in my brain and how often I experienced it.  I feel a severe and deep ache in my head when a massive depression is coming.  I [...]

13May2012 | | 0 comments | Continued
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“OF TWO MINDS” premiered at the Cleveland Film Festival

Can I who am featured in the film“OF TWO MINDS” write a review of the film?  I can’t write a typical review because my viewpoint is colored by my closeness with the film. My plan is not to so much to rate the film –although I believe it to be extraordinary-, but to speak of [...]

24Apr2012 | | 0 comments | Continued
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Unhinged by the Epidemic of Mental Illness

“The central question of what variables drive the pathophysiology of mood disorders remains unanswered……….It is therefore no surprise that we know almost nothing definitive about the pathophysiology of mental illness — the surprise is that we know anything at all.” From Unhinged, The Trouble with Psychiatry — A Doctor’s Revelations about a Profession in Crisis, [...]

2Nov2011 | | 1 comment | Continued
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Mad Sisyphus – New Thoughts on an Old Book

“Madness,” by Marya Hornbacher, was published in 2008. It was a New York Times best seller at the time, but now it has faded to 300,000 in book sales on Amazon. It’s only 100,000 higher in sales than my own book, “Bipolar Bare,” which as a self-published work did not have the backing of a [...]

20Apr2011 | | 0 comments | Continued
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Crazy making Dyslexia

Dyslexia is not a mental illness according to most definitions although 30 years ago dyslexic people were often cared for by psychiatrists. Today we call dyslexia a learning disability. I see dyslexia not as a learning disability but a condition I deal with daily and I think it is related to mental illness. The – [...]

28Mar2011 | | 0 comments | Continued
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Let me shoot you I’m mentally ill

 The Tucson shooter is giving mental illness a bad name. He joins the list of killers who are identified as mentally ill: the shooter at Virginia Tech, the kid gunmen at Columbine, the targeter who nicked President Reagan, and a whole host of others going all the way back to the Texas Tower marksman, and [...]

15Jan2011 | | 0 comments | Continued
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Magic Mental Meds Make Me Mad

Psycho-medication is so confusing; it is enough to drive you crazy. Some of these meds can actually cause you to become nuts.  For example, Effexor (venlafaxine) by Pfizer can bring on mania in a bipolar person and Abilify (aripiprazole) by Bristol-Myers-Squibb can give you suicidal thoughts. These are just a few of the possible side [...]

23Dec2010 | | 0 comments | Continued
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Cross-dressing, sex, and bipolar disorder

 After I spoke at the University of Wyoming this year on my experiences with Bipolar Disorder, the college newspaper ran a headline “Ex-professor exposed drag experiences.” The reporter focused on my recounting of my cross-dressing escapades when I was ill. Dan Socall PhD, the director of the University Counseling Center, responded to this article with [...]

28Nov2010 | | 2 comments | Continued
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On Tom Wootton and Bipolar in Order

09/26/10  Tom Wootton is an engaging and provocative author and public speaker on the issue of Bipolar Disorder. I listened to him speak in Pasadena, California on September 15, 2010. I found myself totally engaged by the theory he puts forward that Bipolar Disorder can be converted into “Bipolar –In- Order.”  This is a state, [...]

28Sep2010 | | 0 comments | Continued
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Seesawing on the Bipolar Coaster

Seesawing on the Bipolar Coaster- Riding the Edge of Madness with Two Minds Imagine a Teeter-totter with a person on both ends and combine it with a roller coaster. This is the experience of bipolar people. They ride up the escalator and plunge down the descent seesawing back and forth.  At the summit they rise [...]

17Sep2010 | | 0 comments | Continued
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Driving Crazy

09/5/10  I listened in rapt fascination and horror as he explained how he drove. This bipolar young man with the fresh face and red hair sat up right in his chair at the meeting and with a giddy smile on his face spoke about how he bore down on slower moving vehicles. He liked to [...]

6Sep2010 | | 1 comment | Continued
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I think I am better than I am

 Grandiosity is a symptom of Bipolar Disorder. When manic I get very grandiose. I think I am better than I am. I liken myself to the great Leonardo Da Vinci. He like me was a writer, artist, and architect; and some say he was bipolar also. Maybe that is why he was so slow in [...]

1Apr2010 | | 0 comments | Continued
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Interview with David Oliver of Bipolar Central

Carl Bipolar Success Story 3-11-10  On February 26th, Carlton Davis was interviewed by David Oliver. The interview is attached. Bookmark on DeliciousDigg this postRecommend on Facebookshare via RedditShare with StumblersTweet about itSubscribe to the comments on this post

11Mar2010 | | 0 comments | Continued
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Author on Blogtalkradio/Chris Teece Show

Carl Davis appeared again on Blogtalkradio. This time on the Chris Teece Show.  The link to the show is: http://blogtalkradio/chris-teece/2010/02/03/Authors-spotlight-bipolarbare-author-carltondavis Bookmark on DeliciousDigg this postRecommend on Facebookshare via RedditShare with StumblersTweet about itSubscribe to the comments on this post

4Feb2010 | | 0 comments | Continued
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Dr. Jekyll and Mrs. Hyde

                                              The Strange Case of  Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson , who supposedly wrote this novella under the influence of cocaine, strikes me as a perfect metaphor for the states I became under the influence of my magic potion, crack cocaine; except that  my Hyde was not male, but female. [...]

2Feb2010 | | 5 comments | Continued
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The Two-minded Self

The Two-Minded Self                                                   This is an old article I wrote, which I have been thinking about lately.   “For that person must not suppose that a double minded man   unstable in all his ways will receive anything from the lord.” I came upon this passage in the Letter of James in the Bible [...]

6Jan2010 | | 6 comments | Continued
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Disappearing on Seroquel

 There are many drugs today advertised on TV for mental health issues: Cymbalta for depression, Abilify for Bipolar Disorder, and now Seroquel for Bipolar Depression. Have you seen the advertisement from AstraZeneca? People who are bipolar depressed are shown semi-dissolved into their backgrounds. A woman standing in front of a theatre marquee is half transparent [...]

24Dec2009 | | 26 comments | Continued
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Bipolar Disorder ain’t a joke

Sometimes I forget how serious an illness Bipolar Disorder is.  My life has been going well the past five years. No major attacks of mania. No racing thoughts. No grandiosity. No horrible depressions. No trips to the hospital for “tune-ups.” When I was first in recovery those “tune-up” visits were a regular occurrence when the [...]

5Dec2009 | | 0 comments | Continued
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The Question I get asked a lot

The question I get asked a lot is: Does medication affect your creativity? The answer I give is: It did before I became an advocate for myself.  Many people with mental conditions like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia don’t want to take medications because the drugs dampen their creativity. They tell me medication makes them feel [...]

4Sep2009 | | 6 comments | Continued
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Carl on Blogtalkradio Again

Carl was on blogtalkradio on Saturday August 29th at 4:00 pm Eastern Time and 1:00 pm Pacific Time talking with Host Simon Barrett, Defense Lawyer Mitch Stone, and Novelist Armando Aldazabar about Drugs, Death, and Destruction.  URL where you can hear the program is http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Simon-Barrett/2009/08/29/Drugs-Death-And-Destruction. A news report on the program can also be found [...]

30Aug2009 | | 1 comment | Continued
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Kirkus Discoveries review

We received this review of bipolar bare from Kirkus Discoveries.  A harrowing look at mental illness and drug addiction. Bipolar disorder has earned significant media attention. The glamour from movie stars and musicians who suffer from the mental illness has rubbed off on the disease, giving some the idea that it’s a benign condition falling [...]

30Apr2009 | | 28 comments | Continued
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The Gift of Bipolar Disorder

I have the gift of Bipolar Disorder; so it is believed did Leonardo DaVinci and Van Gogh, my mentors as artists and writers. For more than most of my life time, 20 years to be exact,  I didn’t know I had the illness, and just thought I was different from other people. I was crazy, wild, and had periods of severe depression, [...]

4Mar2009 | | 36 comments | Continued
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The Healing Power of Buddhism

            Dancer of innate compassion within the spacious expanse of nature             You manifest as one who holds awareness of profound meanings             Endowed with a vast range of flawless and holy qualities             Glorious lama may your lotus feet stand firmly.                                                   Longevity Prayer – Namkha Drimed Rinpoche   Several months ago I attended [...]

12Feb2009 | | 13 comments | Continued