Articles and blog posts relating to the treatment of bipolar disorder through the creative arts - music, dance and visual and performing arts. Bipolar Support for Creative People with Bipolar Disorder
Internationally known visual artist Derek Hess uses his personal struggle with bipolar and alcoholism to creatively express the raw intensity of the human experience. If ever there were a way to tap into the human psyche and lay it bare for all to see, celebrated visual artist Derek Hess has found the key. Indeed, the...
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During a hospitalization, an entrepreneur with bipolar disorder discovers how music can create a shared community and a way forward in difficult times. As a touring musician in my 20s, I enjoyed many wonderful times. But as I look back, it’s actually a sing-along in a mental health clinic that to this day is...
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Recent research is yielding insights into the links between bipolar disorder and creativity—and not just artistic accomplishment, but also innovative thinking and entrepreneurship. Author Virginia Woolf saw her artistry and her mood extremes as being inextricably linked. In a letter to a friend in 1930, she wrote of her “madness” that “in its lava,...
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At times it may be difficult to remain optimistic with a bipolar diagnosis, but glimpses of hope exist if you keep your eyes and ears open. As both an entrepreneur and a touring musician, my twenties provided many moments of privilege. But as I look back, it’s actually a sing-along in a mental health clinic...
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After finding himself in a nonfiction writing course shortly after his bipolar diagnosis, one young man discovers the cathartic power of personal narrative. By Vincent Scarpa A month after my first manic episode, I found myself in an undergraduate nonfiction writing workshop. Which was odd, as what I had gone to college to write...
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Kay Redfield Jamison, PhD returns to the topic of how mania, depression and creativity connect in her latest book about the poet Robert Lowell. It’s impossible to summarize the achievements of Kay Redfield Jamison, PhD. Instead, a few highlights: Holder of an endowed professorship at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Inspirational role...
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One man’s story about his passion for writing, his fear of medicating his mood, and keeping his creativity I tiptoed into the packed, dimly lit performance studio for my first ever spoken word poetry event. My eyes adjusted quickly and my ears opened to a deep, booming voice: “When you and I tango, winter smiles.” Around the room, the audience swayed....
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My iTunes crashed. Not only that, my CD player is broken. It’s been months since I’ve made a fresh tape. Buzzkill! ‘Fresh’ doesn’t always mean new. It can be something I haven’t heard in ages, like Johnny Cash’s farewell cover of Nine Inch Nails’ “beware of me” anthem, “Hurt.” Everyone has a different tune...
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Director and screenwriter Paul Dalio’s feature film takes a hard and gritty look at love, mania, creative inspiration, and making peace with bipolar. By Stephanie Stephens After Paul Dalio was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, he struggled to understand what it meant. Was he irretrievably broken, or should he welcome mania as a gift granting...
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Watch the trailer for the new movie by director and screenwriter, Paul Dalio. His feature film, starring Katie Holmes, takes a hard and gritty look at love, mania, creative inspiration, and making peace with bipolar. This dramedy stars Katie Holmes and Luke Kirby as a couple, both living with bipolar disorder, who meet in a...
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