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Manic Alone

15% of people will experience some form of depression during their lifetime. (Doesn’t it seem like that number should be higher?)

2.5% will experience bipolar.

Those numbers don't matter to the person in the throes, except when it comes to finding people who get it.

It’s so much easier to talk to people about depression because they’ve been there. They can empathize. But with hypo/mania, man, it can be like pouring your soul out into a dry well. All most people have to go by are pop culture references—movies that get it wrong and news articles like that one naked lady who just wanted a goddamn McDonald’s ice cream cone.

And I tell you what lady, I get it.

For me, being manic is way more isolating than being depressed. There’s a veritable army of depressives out there (at least in my world full of writers and women who aren’t afraid to say what’s what). But when you’re manic, it sure feels like you’re manic alone.







 

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