Beautiful Wreck Launch Date: September 10, 2012

Reblogged from :

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Creative Evolution is thrilled to announce the newest addition to our organization: Creative Evolution Press. And, our inaugural book publishing project will be Stephanie Schroeder’s memoir BEAUTIFUL WRECK: SEX, LIES & SUICIDE. Mark your calendars – the book launch party will be on September 10, 2012 in New York City at The Art Club Tribeca! More, as they say in the publishing biz, T(o)K(ome).

The countdown…

I am diligently rewriting my manuscript, due to my editor on Wednesday. Exciting and terrifying at the same time. My publishing collective is fantastic, they are reconstituting their website, so take a look a peek at the progress.

From my publisher:

“Creative Evolution is thrilled to announce the newest addition to our organization:Creative Evolution Press. And, our inaugural book publishing project will be Stephanie Schroeder’s memoir BEAUTIFUL WRECK: SEX, LIES & SUICIDE.

Mark your calendars – the book launch party will be on September 10, 2012 in New York City at The Art Club Tribeca!

More, as they say in the publishing biz, T(o)K(ome).”

I Am Me.

CarlaRenee asked other bloggers to reveal some things about themselves on their blogs so we can know a bit more about each other. She did it in a really cool way that I am going to imitate.

I am bipolar and proud, but that is not all of me or my existence. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m a woman, a feminist and a lesbian, but I do not feel bound by any definitions, labels or identities.

                    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like to laugh, but hate crying.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My politics veer toward the radical and even revolutionary,  I am a radical queer anti-assimilationist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don’t watch television, don’t read People magazine, and do not care about the cult of celebrity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love to travel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am an atheist and also a optimistic pessimist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love country music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like to read, but have a lot of trouble concentrating because of my meds. I don’t have the same concentration issues when I write because it is more active.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like black licorice, pomegranates and hamburgers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As of this writing I my current medication regime is:

150 mg Wellbutrin (antidepressant)

100 mg Lamictal (mood stabilizer)

7.5 mg Abilify (antipsychotic)

2 mg Klonopoin (antianxiety)

I also attend psychotherapy monthly and see my psychiatrist quarterly.

 

 

 

 

 

These are only a few details. Please feel free to ask questions.

Writing it out

I’m finishing final rewrites of my memoir of living with undiagnosed bipolar disorder. It is bringing up so many feelings and thoughts. I just wonder how I ever got through those times…how I coped with such devastating depression (well, I attempted suicide three times, that’s how), a decade of domestic violence and just plain not feeling well most of the time.

I read other blogs by people going through similar experiences I had and have a clue, but I would never have had the wherewithal to blog about it when I was going through it–even if blogging were even an option back in those days:)

I just really want to applaud those of you who are “in the trenches” so to speak and still willing to share your daily, weekly, monthly  reality with us. Yes, I wrote, with pen on paper, when I was hospitalized,  but I also hid the fact that I was hospitalized from my writing group EVEN THOUGH I WAS WRITING ABOUT MY MENTAL ILLNESS — the humble beginnings of this memoir.

Is Grief the same as Depression?

Good Grief! Psychiatry’s Struggle to Define Mental Illness Goes Awry

A proposed new definition of depression would include normal bereavement. Why that’s a bad idea.

By Maia Szalavitz | @maiasz | February 17, 2012 |

The editors of the forthcoming fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual — psychiatry’s diagnostic handbook — are having a hard time. They’ve been attacked by autism advocacy groups for proposing to eliminate the Asperger’s diagnosis. They’ve been slammed for adding a diagnosis, or “prediagnosis,” for people determined to be “at high risk” of developing schizophrenia. And, now, they’re being pummeled for introducing a provision to diagnose grief as depression.

It has not gone unnoticed that the illnesses for which proposed definitions have been expanded are mainly those that are treatable by drugs — antipsychotics or antidepressants, for which manufacturers seek increased marketing opportunities — while the contractions tend to be in conditions for which no specific medication is available.

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2012/02/17/good-grief-psychiatrys-struggle-to-define-mental-illness-goes-awry/#ixzz1mfzC2iKv

New books about mental illness

These are a few mental health books out recently that seem worthwhile reading:

A Legacy of Madness: Recovering My Family from Generations of Mental Illness (this one is at the top of my pile)

The ABCs of Recovery from Mental Illness –  A Handy Guide to Healthy Living Anyone Can Benefit From

There’s also another book with it’s quack author making the rounds of the TV morning shows and national newspapers who says depression doesn’t really exist. I won’t give him any more editorial real estate, just letting you know.

A Better Place

Does anyone really recover from bipolar disorder? Or just get to a better place?

I checked in with my therapist last night to let her know I’ve been having a really good run lately.

I only need to see her every couple of months, which is amazing since when I started with her six years ago I was in crazy bad shape and in a really negative place. But, I’ve had the same job for a year now – it ain’t my dream gig, but it’s not too bad. I’ve got a book coming out on my 49th birthday (certainly two milestones I never thought I would reach). And, I’ve got a fantastic girlfriend who is also an artistic collaborator and isn’t scared of my BPD. Plus, my meds are treating me very well and I’m even getting them for free!

I did a photo shoot for my book publicity/press kit over the weekend and with a fabulous photographer came away with some amazing photos. I’m pumped to get the final rewrites done (due to my editor Feb 29) and send that baby on it’s way.

I’m glad everyone reading my blog has been hanging in here with me and I hope you will continue to indulge me in my own indulgence while I deal with getting my book “out there”.

Thanks!

Are depression and grief the same thing?

I’m actually too depressed right now to post anything except a link about depression:

ELEANOR HALL: There’s renewed debate over the clinical definition of depression and whether it should be extended to encompass the most severe symptoms of grief.

Mental health experts in the United States are considering bundling depression and bereavement together in the new diagnostic manual of mental disorders.

Experts here in Australia are warning that could medicalise normal human emotions as Emily Bourke reports.

EMILY BOURKE: To some the symptoms are the same but in the medical world grief and depression are regarded as very different beasts – but that might be about to change.

Here’s the link to the whole story,

of sound mind…

I cried when I read the following story online today about a women who is schizophrenic being ordered by the court to have an abortion against her will and also be involuntarily and forcibly sterilized…simply because she is mentally ill. Yep, it’s 2012 and it might as well be the middle ages in terms of the ignorance and stigma around mental illness.

Disabled patients’ wishes ignored – Advocates find disturbing trend

by Peter Schworm , Boston Globe, January 22, 2012

The wishes of individuals declared mentally incompetent often go unheeded in family court, lawyers and social workers say, costing them control over the most personal decisions.

In light of this month’s stunning family court ruling that a woman diagnosed with schizophrenia should undergo an abortion and be sterilized, mental health specialists say the case, while an extreme example, casts light on an often unsettling reality for those deemed unable to make decisions for themselves.

Even when individuals voice opposition to a course of treatment, from antipsychotic medication to hospitalization, the courts often rule otherwise, lawyers say.

Read entire story here

Help to Stop Ruminating!

Following is an exercise from my friend, psychologist Dr. Alice Boyes, to help us all stop ruminating:

“Here’s an idea for a behavioral experiment for people who ruminate (passively & repeatedly think about the causes or consequences of problems without moving to active problem solving. Often involves self-criticism).

Prep:If you have a smart phone, you might find this easiest to do using your phone to record (you could use a basic note taking app or your calendar app, or whatever suits you).

Or, you could just use a piece of paper/notebook.

Record: each time you notice yourself ruminating (as it happens)

You might do this by noticing
- when you are lost in thought,
- thinking about the past or the future, or
- when you are feeling negative emotions.

Any of these can act as triggers for you to ask yourself “Am I ruminating right now?” Or “Was I just ruminating?”

Record approx how many minutes you were ruminating for.

At the end of each day, record:any incidents of rumination that led to useful problem solving i.e., you took a specific action.”

Find the rest of the exercise on Dr. Boyes’ blog