Blog Name:	The Secret Life of a Manic Depressive
Url:	http://thesecretlifeofamanicdepressive.wordpress.com
Language:	English
Topics:	bipolar disorder, manic depression, mental health
Description:	This blog is a labour of love and boredom penned by the frenetic mind and nicotine stained fingers of me, a twenty three year old Irish woman named Seaneen. I live in London with two cats, many teacups and eight million other people. The dash to the bathroom in the morning can be a bit tricky, as you can imagine. I write primarily about mental health. I have a severe form of manic depression, or, as you may know it, bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder, contrary to popular belief, is not a charming affectation of the rich and famous. It's a lifelong mental disorder that can be managed via therapy, medication and smart lifestyle choices. This little corner of the internet partly exists to chronicle my experiences of living with manic depression, as well as wrestling with its bedfellows, anxiety and body dysmorphic disorder. It also includes some personal pieces of writing and the occasional rant. 1% of the UK population have a form of manic depression, with a further 9% suffering from depression and another 1% of people living with schizophrenia. That's a lot of people, yet there is still stigma, taboo and prejudice surrounding mental illness. People with mental illness face discrimination from the workplace, the health service, the judicial system and from a section of the public at large. I believe that mental illness is ordinary and deserves the same societal treatment as physical illness. People do not make assumptions about the personality of someone based upon the diagnosis of a physical illness, therefore why should they make assumptions about the personality of someone based upon the diagnosis of mental illness? I have mental illness and yet I am not weak, a malingerer, violent, irresponsible or a would-be murderer. I am in psychiatric treatment and I take an embarrassment of medication that means if you speak to me in the morning you might mistake me for a local drunk. I am, by all accounts, a short woman who smokes a bit too much, dyes her hair frequently, writes as often as she talks and has a somewhat unhealthy obsession with the Bonzo Dog Band and British comedy. I am- like the millions of other people living with mental illness- mad, but not bad.
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