Alive With Bipolar

Description This is Lorraine's second book with Chipmunka and picks up two years on from the end of her last book. She charts the changes in her life and the changes which she has positively sought in her attempts to live with bi-polar and to live a happy, fulfilling life. This book is honest and uplifting. About the Author Lorraine Blackburn is 35 years of age and has bi-polar disorder. She was wrongly diagnosed for 18 years with clinical depression. She has now overcome her condition and wants people to know that they are not alone. Book Extract It is now two years since I completed my first book, 'There Will Always Be A Sunrise', which, if you have read it, will give you more meaning to this journey. It is mind blowing how much has changed in the past year of my life: it has been a hurricane, pleasant and a calm on the outside, at times, and then at others, I'm stuck in the eye with chaos flying around inside me. My endeavour for this book is to share what has happened in my life because I feel it often helps others to know someone else has been through similar experiences and survived. More then anything I want to pass the fact across that I am still here and surviving and I am even experiencing really happy times and calmness of mind and that my body is resting. It's all new really and I can vividly bring to mind the feelings of anxiety and depression. I really appreciate the days without them, although I still get times when their claws are snagged against my skin and squeezing my mind. I'm not going to enter into great detail here but my life has taken some extreme ups and downs, including another hospital admission in the private hospital, only for ten days this time, and a couple in the NHS hospital. I hope to delve deeper into my feelings this time as people have asked about this from my last book. I think it was harder last time, due to the length of time passed, the fact that my memories were heavily sedated ones and my feeling that I didn't want to bore the reader!!!! So, although I'm a little scared of exposing myself to such an extent, I want this book to be a passage to my thoughts and feelings and that it will have a raw element to it. I've joined an alcoholic support group and I find that when another is sharing their story it can be extremely powerful, bringing goose pimples to my skin, but also tremendously supporting and encouraging; after all it is very soothing to know you're not alone and others have been there. So I will tell you where I am now to start your interest into this book. I'm sitting in my rented house where I live with my two children and dog. I have a part time job, am still driving and am excited at the possibility of starting to work for my publishing company. If only the journey to this point had been as simple as that paragraph was to write!! What is my desire for others to accomplish from this? To see how I've dealt with and learnt from dire situations, to share a common ground and empathy and to grow from how I've learnt to live with my bipolar illness. From my heart I want others to know that we who have mental health illness are living, breathing individuals with thoughts, feelings and we are intelligent and creative. More then anything I want the being that has such issues in life to know they can survive, they can be happy, successful and loved. If I can do it, anyone can, I've pulled myself back up, fought the system and survived. I'm worth it, you're worth it; don't give up, there is light at the end of the tunnel, I know, I've been there, and, although it may not always be constant, it is beautiful and worth the visit like the northern lights. Stay with me.